The mixed blessing of the 95% VE: When Pfizer & Moderna reported late last year that their Covid vaccines were highly effective, our expectations for these vaccines soared. It's time for us to get more realistic about what the vaccines can do. https://t.co/BFpje2qRmS
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) August 25, 2021
When Covid-19 vaccines were reported last fall to be roughly 95% effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 infections, the world rejoiced — and even veteran scientists were blown away. Very few vaccines are that protective. Those made to fend off viruses like SARS-CoV-2 — viruses that invade the nose and throat, like flu — typically aren’t at the high end of the efficacy scale.
That was the good news. Now, however, our soaring expectations for Covid-19 vaccines are in the process of sinking back to earth.
With the more transmissible Delta variant of SARS-2 circulating, it is increasingly apparent that, even if mRNA vaccines like Pfizer’s and Moderna’s offer impressive protection against severe Covid infections, they aren’t going to prevent infections in the upper respiratory tract of some proportion of vaccinated people.
The vaccines are wondrous weapons, but they aren’t impenetrable armor…
Edwards, from Vanderbilt, thinks we’re going to have to curb our expectations, warning that as time goes on, there will likely be vaccinated people who aren’t immunocompromised who will get severely ill — and some will die.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a lot, but I think it will be there and I think that will make us all very uncomfortable,” she said. “I think that we have to be realistic about what we can expect.”
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How hard can it be, to just genome all the bats?…
This is why bench biologists should spend some time doing field biology. We’re still discovering new species of bats. Every year. In Southeast Asia. The idea that we could quickly survey THE ENTIRE VIROME OF EVERY SPECIES IN THE REGION is batshit stupid. https://t.co/bLjXptiuTT
— Josh Rosenau (@JoshRosenau) August 26, 2021
The proximal origin may not require sampling every virome of every bat in SE Asia, but is no easier. If the proximal source is bush meat, just test the virome of…every wild animal in…Asia? Or tracking down every illegal meat trader for a truthful account of their sourcing.
— Josh Rosenau (@JoshRosenau) August 26, 2021
But finding the wild reservoir (if SARS-CoV-2 hasn’t replaced it in the wild already) would tell us which farms or wild trappers might be worth deeper investigation.
— Josh Rosenau (@JoshRosenau) August 26, 2021
Point is, it’s a detective story where there are nigh-infinite suspects. It’s hard. It’ll take time. As it has for Ebola, did for SARS, MERS, Nipah, flus, and the many other viruses that didn’t have sources identified for years, decades, or indeed ever.
— Josh Rosenau (@JoshRosenau) August 26, 2021
Try 12 years. https://t.co/DcVsu1COVK
— Josh Rosenau (@JoshRosenau) August 26, 2021
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Perspective: Free rapid at-home coronavirus tests could make pandemic life easier https://t.co/LA9YdyJQQB
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 25, 2021
On Friday, July 30, my band took the stage at the local pub for the first of a two-night stint. We were all vaccinated, as were all of our friends in the audience. We hadn’t performed since before the pandemic and poured our hearts out onstage and off it, hugging, chatting loudly in each other’s faces during breaks and singing at full volume. Back home with the babysitter, as we later found out, my son was developing the first symptoms of covid-19. By Sunday, my wife and I had symptoms, too, followed by my daughter on Monday. But we luckily didn’t infect all our friends because before I could return to the pub Saturday, we used a rapid antigen over-the-counter coronavirus test to test our son, got a positive result within 15 minutes, and immediately canceled everything. As far as I know, no one in the band or among my friends at the bar came down with covid-19…
There’s nothing new about this technology or the understanding of how it might be useful if deployed widely. It’s true that these tests also aren’t as accurate as the various kinds of laboratory tests, and I definitely had the sense over the past year that they were totally unreliable. But that’s just wrong. False positives are rare because the test rarely finds the coronavirus unless there’s virus to find. False negatives are more common, with higher accuracy during peak infection and if symptomatic, but lower in other situations. The FDA recommends serial testing as needed…
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There is a fairly loud camp that believes the focus on kids is overblown & mask mandates are harmful.
Much of their logic if there is any has to turn on the fact that very very few kids have died from COVID. Thankfully most indeed recover.
That argument misses a lot. 2/
— Andy Slavitt ??? (@ASlavitt) August 25, 2021
Because the costs are so patently low & the solutions so patently clear, its even harder to squint your eyes & imagine someone arguing a child sick enough to be hospitalized doesn’t require action.
But here we are. 12/
— Andy Slavitt ??? (@ASlavitt) August 25, 2021
For schools who have adopted those measures (ventilation, eating, masks, etc), studies show there is almost no spread in schools. (Delta might challenge that near zero result— we don’t know). 14/
— Andy Slavitt ??? (@ASlavitt) August 25, 2021
Hi! you can read it here: COVID Update: There are few more important or sensitive topics than… https://t.co/EFMhZtWoRs See you soon. ?
— Thread Reader App (@threadreaderapp) August 25, 2021
======
Folks @TheEconomist reckon failure to make #COVID19 #vaccines available to the whole world will cost the global economy more than $2 Trillion.
MORE pic.twitter.com/hSeVUCAAbn— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) August 26, 2021
The Economist, of course, has its biases:
3/ As with every other calamity on Earth, the poorest countries will pay the highest costs, in terms of their economies, for delays in #COVID19 #vaccine rollouts — because the rich countries are hording vaccines. From @TheEconomist Intelligence Unit.
MORE pic.twitter.com/74PHa9jEYf— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) August 26, 2021
4/ The @TheEconomist Intelligence Unit predicts a net zero impact on GDP in North America & Europe due to delays in #COVID19 #vaccine rollout. The economic burden is shifted to poorer parts of the world. The full report can be downloaded by request from Economist home website. pic.twitter.com/3WCHOyPhPs
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) August 26, 2021
sab
OT Covid positive (but asymptomatic) deer found in Ohio.
Note to self: do not run around suburban, exurban, rural woods with unvaxxed maskless gun nuts,
dr. bloor
Nope, although it’s not just exuberant overselling that led to those expectations. For many diseases, vaccines have been for all intents and purposes impenetrable armor because they were prevalent enough to give us herd immunity. Understandable that folks would assume that they’re getting the sort of protection that keeps them from getting polio, small pox, etc.
@sab:
“Hey, honey! I got me a ten-point buck and a big old case of dyspnea!”
different-church-lady
It amazes me that we go from “Everyone can get this virus extremely easily and there’s a relatively large chance of hospitalization and death” to “In extremely rare cases you could still get very sick” and in some people’s mind this equates to “THE VACCINES ARE FAIL!!1!”
Dorothy A. Winsor
Gov Pritzker has ordered all workers in health care and schools, and all college students to be vaccinated. My building says its workers in the health care category have to have a shot by Sept. 5, so they’re wasting no time.
zhena gogolia
@different-church-lady: I know. It is wearying.
WereBear
It’s simple. They don’t want liberals and their pointy-headed science to be right.
COVID makes it a constant reminder that we are, in fact, right.
To agree with us on even the slightest thing will now get them shunned by their entire town, church, and family.
They would literally rather die. And here we are.
Mousebumples
Unrelated fyi to all those who enjoy Penzeys but don’t get their emails – $50 gift cards for $35 through tomorrow. I’m going to see how many it’ll let me buy, so I can (later) stock up on their vanilla for holiday presents….
Kent
I had to smile at the twitter exchange between the field biologist and the armchair biologists over the “ease” of sampling and constructing a “virome” of all the bats in SE China. Brings back memories.
In the late 1980s I joined the Peace Corps and was sent to Guatemala as a beekeeper in part to work on a USDA-funded project to establish a “bee-barrier” across Central America to prevent the northward spread of the Africanized (killer) bees.
We were the only Peace Corps volunteers in the world to be issued cars as we all got new USDA-purchased Suzuki Samurai 4x4s so that we could haul around swarm traps to install along the roadsides in our assigned work zones. The desk-jockeys in the USDA who designed that scheme were apparently under the impression that bee swarms follow highways. Biologists subsequently estimated that swarm density in Guatemalan forests was as high as 500 per square mile. Guatemala is an incredibly rugged and densely forested country. It was like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. Within 6 months we all converted into regular beekeeping extensionists working with local beekeepers rather than as USDA lackeys, and all those shiny new 4x4s were scooped up by Guatemalan Ministry of Agriculture bigwigs for their own personal use and we could see our old vehicles parked outside the main HQ office in suburban Guatemala City. And I got a motorcycle instead.
Soapdish
I was saying over a year ago that rapid at home testing was going to be the only safe way to return to normal (the idea that a vaccine would be developed before the end of the year being a pipe dream at that time). Not that it’s going to matter; half the people on the planet won’t take it.
Kent
@Soapdish: I am actually curios to see what the total percentage of MAGAt anti-vax dead-enders is once we get deadly serious about employment and school vaccine mandates. How many of those MAGAt cops and nurses are actually going to set their careers on fire in order to own the libs? I imagine when push comes to shove it is actually a pretty small percentage of dead-enders. And fucking good riddance.
mrmoshpotato
Well said, also well played.
germy
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/27/covid-origin-report-us-intelligence-agencies-are-divided.html
Ken
I think I heard about that. Wasn’t it one of the proposals for Project Plowshare
(Not that bees would be slowed down by a mere mile-wide waterway through Central America.)
Kent
Here in Washington State we have had the highly amusing fiasco of watching Washington State University head football coach and anti-vax MAGAt Nick Rolovich twist and turn under a media frenzy after the governor and university president announced mandatory vaccination for all university employees. At $3.2 million/yr. he is the highest paid public employee in the state. But he still ultimately answers to the university president and governor. His anti-vax MAGAt antics have basically set the WSU fan base on fire as half the fan base is now howling for his head and the other half are threatening to boycott if he is forced to vaccinate. As a UW Husky alum I find it all highly entertaining. And it if immolates his $3.2 million/yr. career on the altar of Trumpism more power too him.
We actually have media camped out at WSU right now on the “Rolovich vaccine watch” beat.
Josie
My granddaughter goes to an Episcopal school with really strict protocols – vaccinated teachers, masks for everyone (even parents in the drop-off and pick-up line), tests by school nurse upon request, etc. Last year only one child had Covid, everyone who came in contact was quarantined and tested, and there were no other infections. These protocols work. Parents who rail against them are not acting in their children’s best interests.
debbie
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Now they decide to play catch-up. //
NotMax
Quotepourri.
“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”
– Galileo Galilei
.
“Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.”
– H. G. Wells
.
“I’m all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let’s start with typewriters.”
– Frank Lloyd Wright
.
Kent
@Ken: I don’t know about project plowshare, but no nuclear weapons were involved in the bee barrier that I worked on. The USDA was utterly incompetent in Guatemala. Another thing they did when I was there was pay for aerial spraying of malathion all along the south coast citrus zone to try to eradicate the Med Fruit Fly at the behest of the US citrus industry in CA and FL. They brought in a fleet of US contracted planes to do it. Of course malathion is also absolutely deadly to bees and they “accidentally” wiped out the entire beekeeping industry in southern Guatemala in one month. Thousands of small scale peasant beekeepers for whom that was their only livelihood. Criminal stupidity. So then they had to pour in millions more to try to rebuild the beekeeping industry and compensate all those beekeepers.
“Desk jockeys” in DC who didn’t bother to listen or even ask the advice of anyone working locally.
mrmoshpotato
@Kent:
How else would the bees get anywhere – slog through the jungle?
Tom Levenson
@germy: ISTM a buck-passing report with a garnish of China hawkery.
But what do I know? I’m just a science writer reading the recent papers in Science and Cell that add to the evidence for zoonotic origin.
Cermet
Let’s not over exaggerate the real issue these deplorables don’t want vaccines; their betters (aka the elite within Fox news) and their reps tell them point blank not to get vaxed and because – they use a list of reasons. It certainly isn’t because their afraid liberals will be right. Jokes aside, it is a rightwing media campaign – run by the rightwing elites – that are causing all this death and misery!
Butter Emails!
@Tom Levenson: Are the intelligence agencies really the right people to be issuing this report? Seems out of their lane. sort of like the CDC issuing terror threats.
Cermet
@germy: So the real headline should read: All intelligence agencies universally agree that Covid was not developed in a lab as a bio-weapon.
TriassicSands
@different-church-lady:
It seems to be an accepted fact among refusers that if a vaccine is not 100% effective in preventing all infections, it is worthless.
Obviously, we should simply discard all of the world’s vaccine supply and start over. That 100% effectiveness will be easy to obtain — it’s just a question of how much human fetal tissue and how many microchips have to go into each dose.
J R in WV
@Kent:
If I were U president (or gov) I would have the TV cameras in my office and have Rolovich in there for his shots and a big ol’ pep rally for the vaccine, which is “going to save the team from the deadly virus, and would save us from forfeiting the big game with the Ducks (or whoever is the big rival!)” and if he didn’t play into that correctly, I would fire his ass right there in public on camera FOR CAUSE thereby dumping his severance package into the nearest toilet. But that’s just me. I dunno if I would warn him up front.
Kent
I think it is more than that. It is like Trumpism itself. It is more or less a plague of MAGA that they have unleashed on the world that they no longer have much control over. The most virulent MAGAt stupidity is online, not on Fox. It is mostly the olds who watch Fox and they are largely vaccinated. The 40 and 50-something MAGAts who are most prominent in most of these anti-vax and anti-mask protests are not the core Fox audience. They pick up their bullshit from Facebook and YouTube and Twitter.
Yes Fox adds fuel to the fire. But it would be burning bright right now even without Fox. They have unleashed a monster that they no longer control.
SFAW
Socialist Slavitt seems to have forgotten the Jefferson line oft-quoted by freedom-loving ‘Muricans everywhere:
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of innocents, especially children.”
Chyron HR
Okay, but only if you call them Free At-home Rapid Tests.
Kent
Yeah. I mean it’s not like they have wings and can fly or anything like that!
Kent
Rapid At-home “Freedom” Tests
germy
@Cermet:
Yes, that would be a better headline, but where’s the fun in that for CNBC?
Almost Retired
As an employment lawyer, I’ve been getting plenty of calls from employees seeking my assistance in weaseling out of mandatory vaccinations. I am utterly unsympathetic to their bug-nuttery – with one exception, who seemed to have a legitimate medical issue.
In July, the flavor-of-the-month excuse was the violation of the Nuremberg Code angle. More recently, there’s a form circulating from the Solari Reports website (don’t go there..trust me) that “requires” an employer to read through several pages of scare literature about the vaccine, and then answer a bunch of questions on whether the employee will be compensated by the employer in the event of death, disability, dismemberment or vestigial tail-growing as a result of the vaccine (OK, I made up that last one). They’re convinced that they’re setting their employer up for a lawsuit if the employer refuses to sign. Also, some church is Sacramento is circulating pre-printed religious exemption requests.
I miss the days before lawyer reviews starting popping up on Yelp and Avvo, because now I can’t risk having someone write “and then the lawyer called me a fucking waste of oxygen.”
Alas, as far as I can tell, the reality is that most employers in California will probably treat these exemption requests with more deference than is warranted until there’s some clarification about their potential liability.
SFAW
@Tom Levenson:
Fixe
ETA: e to the u, du/dx, e to the x dx, baby!
germy
@Butter Emails!:
My guess is they were tasked with investigating whether or not it was a weapon. Their conclusions were “No” but they have no opinion as to the virus’s origin. “Both scenarios are equally plausible” etc. because they really don’t know.
Yarrow
Has anyone had or know anyone who has had a breakthrough Covid case? I have a friend who thinks he might have one. Fully vaccinated but was early in the year so immunity could be waning. Mostly stays at home but does go to the supermarket to shop plus has had a few doctors appointments recently. No other exposure opportunities. Always wears a mask when out. Works from home. Lives alone so no one else could have brought it into his home. Does walk his dog but doesn’t get too close to people on those walks.
Symptoms include:
(Sorry TMI) Diarrhea (one time a week ago; thought he’d eaten something bad)
Mild fatigue (he attributed to the intestinal stuff)
Some nasal congestion but very minor
Occasional cough
(He says he doesn’t have allergies so these are unusual for him)
No fever, until yesterday when he said it went up to 99.2 in the afternoon for a bit then back to normal
Some sleep disturbances
Mostly these are symptoms he sort of thought about in retrospect since at the time he didn’t really think much about any of it except for the nasal stuff, which is unusual for him, and the mild fatigue which wouldn’t go away.
As far as I know those are about all the symptoms. It didn’t occur to him that it might be Covid until yesterday. He isn’t sure if he should get a test at this point since everything started on Sunday. He says he’s feeling better today. Since he doesn’t really go anywhere, is it worth it to get a test? He won’t be infecting anyone at home and he says he can stay home until he feels better. He’d have to go out just to get a test. I wasn’t sure what to tell him.
SFAW
@Chyron HR:
On the other hand, that’s better than Safe Home Awareness Rapid Tests
Ken
You have to wait with the rest of us until they’re on the ventilator.
Sucks for them if they’re in one of the states where the employer can hand back the wad of nonsense and say “State law, passed just last year by the Republicans that dominate this hellhole, says that employees can’t sue their employer for any COVID-related illness or injury. Also we’re an employment-at-will state, so get the vax or I’ll fire your ass for cause.”
trollhattan
@Kent:
Speaking of bees, murder hornets back in the news! Confess to getting a bit saucer-eyed at the size of those dang larva. Do. Not. Want.
trollhattan
You get the hurricane, we get the fire. At 7:00 this morning Folsom (east of Sac, home to the Johnny Cash recreational trail) had an AQI of 571.
Another Scott
@Soapdish: It’s still too expensive. It should be free, like the vaccines.
$24 for 2 tests in a box at Walgreens.
:-(
Cheers,
Scott.
Ken
@trollhattan: For a while it looked like you would get a hurricane too. The tracks for Nora were threading neatly up the center of the Gulf of California. But now it’s projected to turn eastward over Mexico when it’s only about halfway to Norte California.
sab
@Another Scott: Are they accurate?
Almost Retired
@Ken: Alas, many of those Republican-dominated hell holes are passing anti-mandatory vaccination laws, in attempt to make everywhere just like Sturgis.
trollhattan
@Ken:
Remnants sometimes sneak into eastern CA from the desert interior and as long as they bring rain and not just lightning to the mountains, are welcome relief. It’s a goofy pattern when it happens, and I’ve been caught by the things when backpacking.
Another Scott
@Tom Levenson: I assume the actual language in the report (which hasn’t been sanitized for the public yet, AFAIK – Psaki said that was coming later) was nearly identical to the WHO report months ago (IIRC):
IOW, broad categories with broad descriptions. They’re not going to make categorical statements without evidence.
All the hedging gets reduced to a Tweet, and here we are.
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@sab: REALLY DOE
Kent
@Almost Retired: My wife is a primary care doctor for a big HMO with a patient panel in the thousands. She is getting deluged with requests for “medical exemptions” from MAGAts who are coming face to face with a growing number of employment vaccine mandates in this state (Washington). Some of them are nurses and other employees with in her organization. Her employer has provided boilerplate denial language and she is gleefully telling them not just “no” but “FUCK NO.” As far as she is concerned, if any of them are offended and want to find a different doctor better yet.
They know who all the anti-vax nurses and other staff are. They are overt about it and plus the doctors have access to all their electronic medical records which have their vaccine information. She tells me not one of them is really worth keeping and this is a good way to weed out some of the stupidity in the organization.
TriassicSands
@Almost Retired:
I’ve now read and heard in person from a number of doctors that there are almost no legitimate medical reasons to forgo vaccination and in most cases even those reasons would be temporary.
My local hospital just issued a vaccination mandate, but one doctor I spoke with said she expects the sudden appearance of many “new religions and/or religious beliefs” as a way to avoid the mandate. Worse, she thinks the hospital, which is suffering severe staff shortages due to the pandemic, will be so lax in enforcement that the mandate will be virtually meaningless.
One nurse, vaccinated, is against the mandate, because 1) you can’t force people to do things, and 2) what is more important in his mind, it will cause lots of people to quit, making the staff shortages even worse.
I spoke with one young, unvaccinated phlebotomist who is convinced that if she gets vaccinated she will become a “carrier” and kill both of her vaccinated grandparents.
Everyone I spoke with at the hospital is either burned out or getting there. COVID-19 numbers in this rural western Washington county are the worst they have ever been. Early on, we were protected by our relative geographic isolation and pandemic mitigation measures. Today, apart from seeing masked faces, you would never know there is a pandemic.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@Kent: maybe rolovich can reach out to matt shea to see about “neutralizing” the governor
Another Scott
@sab: They’re under a EUA, I think. Accurate enough, but nothing’s perfect. FDA.gov has details about the various rapid tests.
If there’s any question, the peace of mind is worth $25. But too many people don’t have that kind of money, especially if they want to test multiple family members over multiple days to be sure(er). :-(
(I haven’t used it myself.)
Cheers,
Scott.
trollhattan
Evidently, part of the new NAFTA is exporting American Idiocy© to Canada. Sorry, eh?
TriassicSands
Yesterday, in a waiting room, an obese, middle-aged man tried to engage me in an anti-mask discussion. “How long do you think we’ll have to keep wearing these things” he said, fingering his mask. I told him as long as it takes for Americans to begin to behave responsibly.
“Well,” he replied, “I have my own thoughts on that.”
” Yes, ” I said, “And on the other side we have science, rationality, experience, knowledge, and data.”
He seemed disappointed I hadn’t joined him in opposing masks. Incidentally, he entered the clinic maskless escorting his much older (mother?) who was very frail and wearing a mask. There is a large sign outside stating the mask requirement for entry. Naturally, he ignored it. Freedumb.
Kent
One of my wife’s vaccinated doctor colleagues caught Covid from an unvaccinated MAGAt patient who brought the disease with her into the clinic. Female doctor in her mid-40s. She was vaccinated way back in late December or early January when the first wave of health care workers were vaccinated so there might have been some diminishing of effectiveness involved. They are ultra-religious about PPE when seeing patients in the clinic but with delta it can still sneak through all the precautions I guess. They have had several other vaccinated doctors and nurses catch Covid. They are all pissed that the HMO doesn’t require vaccines for all non-emergency care. Let the MAGAts do virtual visits if they want to stay unvaxed.
Her case was shitty but relatively mild. A few days at home feeling miserable and then gradual recovery. Honestly some of the other doctors were jealous because she got 14-days of mandatory sick leave at home to chill while they all continued to bust their assess dealing with MAGAts and Covid back at the clinic. My wife was like “Damn…maybe I should get Covid and take 2-weeks off with full pay too.”
trollhattan
@TriassicSands:
Nursing homes are theoretically regulated in Calif but in practice, not so much. Last I saw vaccine rates listed it was quite high for residents but much, much lower for the staffs, as low as 2%(!) in some places.
If I were spending $7k/mo for granny, I’d be screaming bloody murder and shopping for another facility, stat.
Almost Retired
@Kent: That’s heartening, although, alas, there are plenty of vaccine crazies with medical degrees – from medical schools you’ve never heard of – willing to write just about anything.
BeautifulPlumage
@Kent: ha ha ha, I missed this story. Maybe he can find that antivax nurse who was giving saline shots instead of the real thing.
(to be clear, that nurse needs to face real consequences. There is no other explanation than willfully malice. Has anyone read about the follow-up for the ~ 2000 fake doses given?)
Kent
@Ken: I remember the last one well. We were living in Waco at the time which took in thousands of Katrina refugees. The HS I was teaching at absorbed over 100 new students that fall from Louisiana and Mississippi and I had a lot of them in my classes. I visited Houston a couple days after the storm and saw the thousands of refugees at the Astrodome.
Unlike Katrina, this one is on a path to strike to the west of New Orleans not the east. Which could actually be worse for the City of New Orleans because in this hemisphere hurricanes rotate counter-clockwise which makes the storm surge worse on the east side of the eye. Last time it wasn’t the actual storm that did all the damage in New Orleans, it was the broken levies and all the subsequent flooding in the following days. But it was the actual storm that destroyed the south coast of Mississippi.
Soprano2
I am so, so tired of the “wealthy countries are hoarding vaccines” argument. We are supplying millions of doses all over the world. Those countries have to have the supplies and people to administer the shots; vaccine by itself isn’t enough. Plus, we have a 5 alarm Covid emergency in this country too; she acts like all the Western countries have gotten it under control.
Yarrow
@Kent: Thanks. He’s trying to decide if he should get the test or not. He says he’s feeling better today. It didn’t occur to him that his symptoms could be a breakthrough case until Friday. He would have to go get a test and since he isn’t at risk of infecting anyone else he doesn’t know if it’s worth it, except for just knowing one way or the other.
I would guess your wife’s colleague had to get tested? Do you know what her symptoms were?
Catherine D.
I’m cranky because work wants me to do body scanner demos for several classes. The airflow by the scanners is poor, and Cornell just went to yellow status, because of course the COVID cases have jumped with the arrival of the plague rats.
I’ve asked for a UV/HEPA air cleaner for the area, but I doubt I’ll get it.
Kent
@BeautifulPlumage: Here’s an example of a “Rolovich vaccine watch” story in the local media. There have been dozens of them in the past couple of weeks. Very entertaining:
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/aug/20/washington-states-nick-rolovich-provides-no-clarif/
Dorothy A. Winsor
@trollhattan: Why aren’t people who become ill suing these places for failure to take care?
TriassicSands
@trollhattan:
Unless you secretly hated granny, but were the sole or a major beneficiary in her will.
Seriously, more often, the problem is the younger people. They are the ones opposing restrictions.
A future history of the U.S. will be subtitled: “How Did So Many People Get So Stupid? “
Kay
@TriassicSands:
I won’t engage with them at all anymore. It’s too boring. They have to find someone else for that. I think they have had plenty of time dominating the available forums and many, many high profile and really loud spokespeople.
Yarrow
@Kent: Yep. If the current track verifies it’s about the worse case scenario for the New Orleans. Dirty side of a major hurricane is just not where anyone wants to be.
The last minute wobble by Katrina would have spared New Orleans but as you said the levees broke and thus disaster. Mississippi was pummeled by the NE quadrant. Twenty miles here or there could make a big difference as to who take the worst of Ida.
Kent
@Yarrow: It’s all 3rd hand. I think just ordinary bad flu symptoms and feeling really shitty. But nothing remotely serious enough that would cause her to go to the hospital.
And yes, they are really quick with the testing any time any staff feel sick. It is a big medical clinic so only takes 30 seconds to walk down to the lab and get swabbed. My wife has had it done several times this year after feeling shitty. The last time was earlier this week. Always came up negative so probably just a more mundane flu or cold virus.
Kent
Get stupid? When have we ever NOT been stupid?
Ken
AHA!!! And they laughed at me!!!
Though if it was aliens, they’re probably looking at one another now and saying “Rod Serling was right, they really are their own worst enemies.”
Ramalama
@Kent: That’s a great story. More details, please. Have you written in up anywhere other than here?
TriassicSands
@Kay:
My response virtually guaranteed an end to the conversation. My voice and attitude broadcast my contempt for him. You are right, though, hearing the same stupidity repeated endlessly is mind-numbing. And there is no “receiver” on the other end, only a “transmitter. ” In short, they won’t actually hear anything we say.
Yarrow
@Catherine D.: Read through Kimberly Prather’s Twitter feed for how to make your own filter fairly cheaply. She’s focused on classroom settings because a lot of schools aren’t doing what they need to do as far as ventilation and filtration but these simple to make filters work anywhere.
https://twitter.com/kprather88
Here’s a direct link to a thread on how to make them. They’re called Corsi Cubes.
sab
@TriassicSands: At least he had a mask. I am very tired of interacting with non-maskers. I just don’t bother anymore. Shut up and go breathe your toxins elsewhere.
Just cancelled a trip to see my sister because I don’t trust my husband. He was berserk on masking until he got vaxed. Then he saw it as smooth sailing.
Hia grand-daughter starts school tomorrow. School has masks . Husband feels she is safe. I feel no. Step-daughter is a dramalama manipulative bitch.
My married life has been all about him and his kids seting the standards for how we live because everything else would hurt their feelings.
I am absolutely done with this anti-mask shit. Step-daughter has a pesrsonality disorder. Your grandchild age seven is fine with wearing masks.
I am not fine with continuing to pay rent when her performative shit exposes me and my husband to Covid because this week you think masks are bad ( last week you wanted them mandated.) Every week is a new hoop to jump through and I am done. Conform to my rules or don’t contact us. Husband disagrees, then he can move in with you.
I am so fucking tired of people using Covid restrictions ( pro or con) as a bludgeon in family dysfuntion issues.
TriassicSands
@Kent:
Oh, I think it’s gotten a lot worse with social media and Fox News being major factors.
I don’t think there was ever some idyllic time when wisdom ruled the land, but it is so much easier to disseminate idiocy now and everyone has the potential to become her or his own source of stupidity.
raven
Go Illini!!!
TriassicSands
@sab:
Sigh. No, he didn’t. They had to give him one. He knew he was going to a clinic. He knew there is a mask mandate — its been in effect at every area medical facility since 2020. But he couldn’t be bothered to bring his own mask.
Cermet
@Yarrow: Sounds more like a very mild intestinal virus (i.e. stomach flu.) But if any doubt, self isolate for three days after symptoms have passed.
sab
@TriassicSands: I am so very tired of anti-maskers. Even my relatives. Disown them all. I have done it before. I am about to do it now.
Omnes Omnibus
@Yarrow: Hey, you’re back!
Yarrow
@Cermet: Thanks. That’s what he thought at first but the fatigue continued all week and the intestinal stuff cleared up. He hasn’t gone out anywhere so he hasn’t put anyone at risk. The sinus/cough stuff is weird, though. Doesn’t seem like it would go with a stomach virus or similar.
Yarrow
@Omnes Omnibus: Yep. So are you. Did you watch the Lions tour?
Villago Delenda Est
Asshat extraordinaire Rand Paul says resistance to the horse dewormer among people who are actual experts in this is because they hate TFG.
Oh how I wish his neighbor had been more successful.
WaterGirl
@Kent: Yeah, but that doesn’t spell out F-A-R-T.
TriassicSands
@sab:
I’m relatively lucky — everyone close to me (personally, not physically) is in agreement. There might be some minor differences, e.g., about the wisdom of a particular outing, but masks, vaccines, etc. unanimity. I feel for people who have selfish, irresponsible relatives. Good luck.
Brachiator
To be fair, very few, if any, news stories cautioned that the vaccine would not prevent infections in the respiratory tract. I sm not sure that researchers knew this for sure.
But from the beginning, some people have assumed that we have an inalienable right to a pleasant life. This is strong in America, but not exclusive to us. And it seems to be especially strong with conservative mind sets.
And so you had denial of any problem at all, and then the expectation that herd immunity and then the vaccine would let us return to normal.
Oddly enough, we didn’t get a lot of “Covid is punishment for sin,” but we got the persistent nonsensical counter claim that fighting Covid could be left to “personal responsibility” and Free Market Baby Jesus.
And finally you have those folk who don’t understand or who reject science and who look to potions, elixirs and snake oil for a magical instant cure. Or death.
But even though these impediments to dealing effectively with the pandemic has been made worse by right wing political mischief, these irrational responses are common reactions. We need to learn how to deal with them going forward and when the next pandemic hits.
ETA. I agree that Rupert Murdoch and his media properties have been particularly pernicious. Russia has also pushed out a lot of misinformation even though they also have to deal with the pandemic.
Social media is a mixed bag. As always social media is a great outlet for accurate information. It is also an intellectual sewer.
Omnes Omnibus
@Yarrow: Some. Not everything. I’ve been kind of busy.
Villago Delenda Est
@TriassicSands: I concur. This idiocy used to be confined to mimeographed tracts handed out on streetcorners. Now it’s in our face 24/7 thanks to that shitweasel Zuckerberg.
Yarrow
@Omnes Omnibus: I watched all of it including warm ups. If you didn’t get the chance to see Marcus Smith play, have a look at clips. He’ll be fun to watch in years to come.
Omnes Omnibus
@Yarrow: Will do.
WaterGirl
@Yarrow: Yes, I know multiple people who have gotten breakthrough infections, and multiple people on this blog have shared that they have one. (Or had it in the past few weeks.)
Breakthrough infections are a real thing.
And yes, your friend should definitely get tested. It’s good to know. It’s important to know for yourself, and for anyone you might have come in contact with or might have contact with for the next couple of weeks.
randy khan
On the world distribution front, it’s worth noting that the U.S. has given away more doses of vaccine than all of the rest of the world combined. Some countries that make vaccines (China, I’m looking at you) appear to not be giving away any at all, instead selling their vaccines even to developing nations.
The U.S. should give away more doses, and I think under Biden it definitely will, but if every nation with the necessary financial resources were doing what the U.S. is doing, the situation would be much, much different.
Ken
Please. The Senator is spending every day of the rest of his life with a debilitating brain injury from the beating he received, and operating with severely reduced cognitive —
I’ve just been handled a bulletin that he was like this before the incident.
Cermet
@Yarrow: The all week ‘weakness’ is a big one for covid – so, maybe get a test kit but mask well.
Cermet
@Villago Delenda Est: How I wish covid had been more successful (making him get on a ventilator, not dying.)
Kent
Oh, I have tons of crazy Peace Corps stories. But then pretty much everyone does. I thought about writing it all up but never got around to it. But there is a whole big literature of Peace Corps adventures. Many much crazier than mine. Close friend of mine served in Niger and caught malaria 3 separate times. He never left and still does development work for the UN all over the world in war zones.
TriassicSands
@Yarrow:
@WaterGirl:
Absolutely.
WaterGirl
@Cermet: We simply cannot diagnose or eliminate the possibllity of covid in another person based on a description of their symptoms.
Everyone who thinks they might have it should get tested.
SFAW
@Ken:
Check the date on that bulletin. It’s been common knowledge for decades. Well, “common” for those who knew him before he became a Senator, of course. The rest of us have been “blessed” with that knowledge for only about ten years.
Kent
Well yes, but we still managed to do things like the Civil War and the Dust Bowl without the help of Facebook.
debbie
@Soprano2:
Seconded.
Yarrow
@WaterGirl: It’s a week after his initial symptom and he didn’t even think it could be Covid until yesterday. He’s pretty much a hermit and doesn’t see anyone so he’s about the lowest risk person I could imagine. He says he’s feeling better today. Would a test even pick it up this late?
Ohio Mom
@Yarrow: Tell your friend he needs to have a primary care physician in his life, for annual exams, and also so he’d have someone QUALIFIED to give him medical advice.
All he’d have to do is call the doctor’s office and he wouldn’t even have to wait until Monday morning, there is always an operator on duty and a doctor on call.
gene108
If the stupid motherfucking shit fuckers not getting vaccinated in this country got vaccinated we could start coordinating sending vaccines to poorer countries, because until Americans are fully vaccinated it’d be political suicide to send doses to other nations.
Those evil fuckers are putting more than just their neighbors at risk.
Kent
And then we have to throw it away when they don’t use it because there is no reverse distribution system to gather up unused and about to expire vaccine from the hundreds of clinics and pharmacies in a state like Mississippi and re-distribute it back to other countries.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@trollhattan: FORD NATION RISE UP
different-church-lady
@Another Scott: In Massachusetts, there is Project Beacon: free PCR tests at drive-thru locations. I have always gotten results back within 36 hours.
different-church-lady
At this point, the only sensible response to any individual antivaxxer is, “Okay, the rest of us are moving on without you.”
Ohio Mom
@Ohio Mom:
Sorry if I was snipity. I went to outdoor brunch with an old friend this morning and had to listen to a long tale of woe about a mutual acquaintance who has not utilized western medicine well. Irritated me no end, obviously.
Anoniminous
deleted by poster
Philbert
@Yarrow: I had the same thing and got a free local test. The newer test just swabs your nostrils, NO discomfort, surprise, they don’t poke your brain anymore. May vary in your area! I would have no concerns about getting tested, it’s best for everyone.
The Moar You Know
@Yarrow: Yep. My uncle, fully vaccinated. Sick as hell. Lives by himself across country so we can’t help him, and of course his local hospital is maxed out. High fever, body pain, can’t sleep, no taste or smell. He’s a heart attack survivor and we’re all worried sick about him. He seems to be slowly getting better. Fingers crossed.
He said “it rampages through the body, you can feel it”.
He’s convinced he’d be dead without the vaccine. We’re all a little bit worried that may be a premature conclusion, given his medical history and his age (73).
Anoniminous
@Brachiator:
“I am not sure that researchers knew this for sure.”
If they are working in the field they certainly should know vaccines are not 100% effective. NOTHING is 100% effective. Because Ma Nature is a meanie.
Old Dan and Little Ann
My Godfather went to a memorial service for his friend last week unmasked. He is vaccinated. He was told at door that he couldn’t come in unless he was masked. So he left. My FIL did the exact same thing for his MIL’s service about a month ago. These 2 have never met but they’d get along famously.
trollhattan
Abbott and DeSantis have another thing in common.
Uncle Cosmo
I’ve seen some speculation that most cases of what gets called “the [seasonal] flu” are really just average-to-slightly-worse-than-average common colds – that most or all of the really, really, really bad bouts of “flu” are the result of actual HxNy infections. Just tossing that out as food for thought.
Chief Oshkosh
@Kent: I don’t understand why they just don’t fire him immediately, publicly, and with extreme prejudice. Most of these assholes get all kinds of perks and bennies. Yank those immediately and publicly, too. This would solve so, so many problems.
Another Scott
@Anoniminous: Yup, but as usual, the scientific literature is excessively dumbed-down for the public, and nuance is lost.
Medrxiv (from February):
(Emphasis added.)
The vaccines were initially great at preventing symptoms with the Wuhan variant – if they checked for infections with everyone, it wasn’t the main factor in the initial phase 3 studies. This study shows that they were great at preventing infection with the Wuhan variant (at a slightly lower rate than for symptoms). It also shows that fully vaccinated people could still be hospitalized with the Wuhan variant (at a ~ 50% lower rate than for unvaccinated people).
Things are worse with Delta, but the possibilities were there even before Delta exploded.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chief Oshkosh: Maybe because the guy has a contract that specifies how and why he can be fired.
Ksmiami
@WereBear: ok… No big loss
Kent
He hasn’t technically broken any rules yet. All he has done is public douchbaggery. Under the governor’s order, state employees have until October to get their vaccine regimen completed.
Kent
Coaches can always be fired. The only question is whether they get a golden parachute according to their contracts. He hasn’t actually broken any rules yet and has until October to get all his shots, just like all the other state employees.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, …
HTSD!!
Cheers,
Scott.
FlyingToaster
@Josie: WarriorTeen goes to a private (albeit independent) school as well. Pk-8.
Last year was live and podded, PK-5 all day, 6-8 3.5 hours live, 2 hours Zoom (either in pod or at home). School protocol included masks, distancing, upgraded filters, CO2 detectors for alerting to stagnant airflow, open windows when alerted (and wearing parkas and glittens in class in January), separate dropoff times and entrance doors, testing before school starts and before resuming school in January, daily online attestation to temperature and lack of symptoms, and shifting to (hybrid) Zoom school for individuals and entire classes when there was a possible exposure. And in May the middle school was allowed to stay all day for group projects. There was one confirmed case all year, and no further infection from that case.
This year, we’re back to everybody all day, with all of the above measures. All faculty have been fully vaccinated. I can only speak for 8th grade, but I can confirm 12 of the 14 returning were vaccinated by July 4th, 1 is getting their second shot next week and and number 14 is, well, probably not going to get vaccinated and will be ostracized for it (Divorced parents, joint custody, and one is effing nuts). Most of 7th seems to be vaccinated, but 6th grade isn’t even eligible until each turns 12.
Fortunately, our local public schools are finally stepping up. Masks, pooled testing, HEPA air exchangers in classrooms, vaccine clinics at the middle and high schools But that wasn’t announced until this past Monday.
Matt McIrvin
@sab: The OTC at-home tests aren’t as sensitive as PCR tests. But their error rate is fairly low (a few % of false negatives) and they’re likely sensitive enough to tell you if you’d be a menace to others today.
Omnes Omnibus
@Kent: You can always fire just about anyone. The question is whether there are legal and/or financial consequences for doing so.
JoyceH
Yarrow, if your friend wants to be tested just for his own information, he should get one of the at-home COVID tests, available at drug stores and on Amazon. Save the clinic tests for those who need them.
I was following a thread on my local county board, and the parents are just about frantic trying to find places that will test their kids. Issue is this – new school rule is that if a student has tested positive or exposed to someone who tested positive, they’re sent home for a period of time, and then only allowed back into school with a negative COVID test administered by a medical professional. The home COVID tests won’t count. (Probably because they need the outside medical professional to certify that yes, this test was actually administered to this specific person.)
But now all the local clinics have stopped doing COVID tests for the asymptomatic, because they were being overwhelmed by the demand. So the parents are having a heck of a time finding places to test their kids so they can get them back to school. Sounds like one of the county supervisors is arranging to have a weekly COVID test site come back to the county for this very purpose. (It’s also sounding to me like COVID is spreading so rapidly I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they shut the schools down soon. And this is WITH a mask mandate.)
So anyhoo – if he doesn’t need to show a certified test result to someone, the at-home kit should be enough for his purposes.
In other news, I saw on Twitter a great new term for the anti-vaxxers we should start using – Antiva. Sounds so similar to Antifa, that you know that Magats are going to hate hate hate it!
Also sounds like us vaccinated have Had It Up To Here with Antiva. One woman reported that her brother ordered some of those vaccination certificates from China. Asked his mom if he could look at her vaccination card so he could fill his in correctly. She said she was going to report him for fraud. Go, Mom!
RaflW
How do people like Mike Funk become superintendent of a school district? (Albert Lea is a smallish city, so it may not be the most attractive job, but does Mr Funk not read any news??).
germy
Temper tantrum nation
germy
raven
@Kent: And they thought the Pirate was bad!
germy
@germy:
Chief Oshkosh
@Omnes Omnibus: If there is a max mandate for all state employees, fire him for cause. He always has the option of taking the state to court to see if anyone thinks his contract guarantees him a sinecure.
Kent
@Chief Oshkosh: I’m sure they will fire him if he refuses. But he has until mid-October to get the jabs. Same as all other state employees. So all that is happening now is that the clock is ticking.
But I give 99.9% odds that he just gets the jab after making the appropriate level of MAGA fuss. Who sets a $3.2 million/year career and your “dream job” on fire for something like that?
Already a majority of the WSU community and fan base hate him for this distraction. The college educated population, which is the alumni base by definition, are at over 80% vaccination. And the older wealthier ones with bucks are even more so.
WhatsMyNym
@JoyceH:
Mine has a preprinted label with a bar code and labels that identify where each shot came from.
Kent
@WhatsMyNym: Mine too. They are printed stickers applied by the clinic.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@germy:
I saw that video earlier. It shouldn’t have taken the cops the length of it to show up.
Chief Oshkosh
@Kent: Seems like an opportunity for WSU to rid themselves of problem. Obviously I don’t know his contract, and I haven’t followed his antics, but “behavior unbecoming” is taken seriously at many places, and is a firing offense.
Matt McIrvin
@Brachiator:
I’ve seen a lot of “it’s just a cold, you’ll come through fine if you’re in good health”, implying that the people who get very ill or die are to blame for being fat or eating too many processed foods or whatever.
Ken
@germy: Pro tip: Throw your tantrum after the plane is in flight, that way you’ll get to your destination. Doing it before you board gets you stranded when they put your name on the no-fly list.
smith
@Matt McIrvin: There certainly has been a lot of, “I’m not worried, God will take care of me,” implying that those who God favors won’t get it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@germy:
WhatsMyNym
@Ken:
They just land at the nearest airport now.
smith
@Ken: Might get you duct-taped to your seat though, and you’ll still probably get arrested when you land.
Yarrow
Thanks everyone for your input. He has decided to make a testing appointment at a drug store he can walk to.
@Ohio Mom: Well, his doctor just up and retired with not much notice so he’s a bit at loose ends as far as that option goes.
Fake Irishman
@randy khan:
Agreed on all counts. The US needs to do a lot more, but it’s already DELIVERED more than 115 million doses, the vast majority to the developing world. Particular focus has been on Latin America, but lots to South Asia and sub Saharan Africa too. Having said that, I do understand why folks are really frustrated about the lack of distribution to Africa.
WaterGirl
@germy: They appear to have taken their sweet time.
WaterGirl
@Kent: I don’t understand the point of these deadlines that are 2 months out. Give them 2 weeks to get the first shot.
Narya
@Mousebumples: with 3 you also get free grill spices !
WaterGirl
@WhatsMyNym: And all the nervous flyers are subjected to yet one more takeoff and one more landing.
JoyceH
@WaterGirl: I dunno – those airport gate areas are mighty spread out and this tantrum seemed to last a bit over a minute. I doubt if there’s police within a minute walk/run from every gate.
germy
@WaterGirl:
He could have hurt someone with his tantrum.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Ken: Actually, for a drought-stricken area, a hurricane sounds pretty good. I’d skip the high winds if possible, but bring on the rain!
catclub
@smith:
So tell them it looks like God does not want them.
JoyceH
Huh. A few days ago, saw an article that Jesse Jackson and his wife were both hospitalized with COVID. Today see an update that he’s recovering and moved to rehab facility while she’s in ICU. And that he’s vaccinated but she’s not. I wonder why not?
RaflW
@Ken: As long as one’s destination is the jail in the arrival city. Pilots have been known to radio ahead to have police in the jetway to ‘greet’ the passenger.
J R in WV
I’m afraid my doc will wind up doing that. He’s a little older than I am, around Wife’s age. Has said he will continue to practice as long as possible, loves his work, but had back surgery not long ago…
Ken
@WhatsMyNym: Well that ruins all my travel plans.
MoCaAce
Slowly raises hand…
Anoniminous
I see Louisiana is living up to its reputation according to CNN:
“Louisiana had no plans Friday to separate vaccinated and unvaccinated people in shelters in state assisted emergency facilities during Ida, according to Mike Steele, a spokesperson for the state Homeland Security and Emergency Management. ”
Because why would you separate people with a contagious, life-threatening, disease from people who do not have it in an over-crowded, unventilated, emergency shelter?
effin’ morons
Kent
Well, they WANT people to get vaccinated sooner. That is the date that you get fired if you don’t get your shit taken care of. Which means BOTH doses of the vaccine, not just the first one. You can’t wait until October to get your first shot. You’d have to find some place giving the J&J vaccine if you are going to do that.
So all these anti-vax folks are going to have to get their first shots by early September if they want to be on schedule to be completely vaccinated by early October. Which isn’t very far away. There is probably also going to be a rush for appointments in some places. Possible need to schedule time off work for your shot, etc.
germy
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Matt McIrvin
@Fake Irishman: 115 million doses is 1/100 of what the world needs.
laura
@Yarrow: I have two friends – a married couple who had breakthrough Covid. Exposure on the job on Saturday night, symptoms Sunday night, both negative on at home tests Monday am, left work early Monday and in Urgent care Monday night. Spouse symptomatic on Monday and tested positive Tuesday. Brain fog, fevers, headaches, the first and most ill spouse had breathing and racing heart issues. Three weeks later, still getting smell/taste back. They said it’s the worst they each been sick ever.
MoCaAce
@Yarrow:
I’m in my mid 50’s. Tested negative three days after exposure to an unvaxxed idiot at work then started with minor sinus issues the next day. Developed a mild cough from the sinus drainage then I lost my sense of smell on day 5 and tested again (positive). At 12 days symptoms were almost gone and my sense of smell returned. The last three days have been symptom free and I’m heading back to work on Monday.
evodevo
@smith:
The Xtian delusion of being one of the “elect” who will be saved, vs all the rest of us goats…
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@germy: Clapton is a whiny, entitled babyman. He and Van can go fuck themselves.
Signed, a lifelong fan
Brachiator
@Matt McIrvin:
There are many ways to read this kind of magical thinking. Some people insist on believing that Covid does not really exist and is just a cold or flu.
Other people believe that if you have a “good” immune system, then you can fight off any illness.
And yeah there are those who think that perfect health can be yours if you eat the right foods and take the right nutrients.
Death from Covid is not strongly linked to obesity, but some people don’t get the nuance.
Another Scott
@germy:
He’s a kook.
Repost – How to be a fan of problematic things.
Cheers,
Scott.
Bnad
@Yarrow: My girlfriend (Pfizer-vaccinated in Mar/Apr) got a positive covid test Thursday and has had a sore throat, an occasional cough, a lot of fatigue, body aches and period cramps that made her yell in pain and were like nothing she’d ever felt before.
The positive test having come in the middle of a cross country trip, we drove home and she is recuperating. I (also Pfizer Mar/Apr) got a negative test result that day but in the 2 days since, it’s remarkable how closely your description of your friend’s symptoms matches what I’ve been going through (minus the diarrhea). Almost like Covid Lite. Enough antibodies to keep it from getting much of a foothold but then it goes somewhere else and can’t get a foothold there either. Enough antibodies that it not only is a mild case of Covid, I would also consider it a mild cold (if it were a cold).
Anyway, bad enough that I’m getting tested again tomorrow.