President Biden will end the U.S. #Covid emergencies May 11. He told Congress the two nat'l Covid responses—the nat'l emergency & the public health emergency—will end in May. The move restructures the U.S. response to accepting Covid as an endemic threat https://t.co/mUZLGg5nWP
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) January 31, 2023
This @ThinkGlobalHlth piece is a great explainer on the legal ramifications of public health emergency declarations. https://t.co/pf7axxXTi9
— Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH (@JenniferNuzzo) January 31, 2023
IMO, Dr. Adalja is extremely over-optimistic about the percentage of people at most risk from Covid who have access to a medical system that can, or will, hand-tailor vaccine recommendations to their personal needs:
… The federal government’s recommendations for successive rounds of boosting has been confusing for even those steeped in the field. An evidence-based, predictable schedule is needed. However, that approach should not be forced into a one-size- (or even two-size)-fits-all paradigm. COVID-19 boosting schedules should be exclusively targeted to actual risk of severe disease, not convenience or simplicity of message…
As the risk for severe COVID-19 is not uniform, the benefits of current vaccines are not uniform. Some people may require zero boosters because their risk of severe disease is low; the higher risk may require one, two, or more boosters at certain intervals. However, such a schedule must be made with evidence at hand — better evidence than guided the switch to the bivalent boosters, which are likely not more effective or cost effective than the original boosters.
Even when it comes to those at high risk for severe COVID, high-risk people are not homogenous. A person with isolated hypertension is very different than someone with multiple comorbid conditions, who is also different than someone who has had a bone marrow transplant. Each may have different vaccination needs. I could envision some being vaccinated based on antibody titers or some other biomarker, as is the case with certain other vaccines (e.g., hepatitis B).
An optimized schedule is not a fruitless task and the lackluster booster uptake opens in a new tab or window — even among the high risk — should not dissuade the adoption of a proper schedule for boosting based on risk factors. The professional societies of physicians who care for the varied groups of the high risk — from diabetic individuals to people living with HIV to transplant patients — would be best suited to develop such schedules reflecting unique risk profiles amongst their patients.
Ultimately, we should seek better vaccines that are more efficacious and durable in the prevention of infection from all SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Updated @CDCgov data on bivalent booster, age groups and deaths
Overall 91% reduction of deaths across all age groups vs unvaccinated, less (80%) without bivalent booster
The absolute reduction increases w/ age; relative reduction is consistent across ageshttps://t.co/HGyjNwUveD pic.twitter.com/N6FNccaBuZ— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) January 30, 2023
======
… The pandemic was likely in a “transition point” that continues to need careful management to “mitigate the potential negative consequences”, the agency added in a statement.
It is three years since the WHO first declared that COVID represented a global health emergency. More than 6.8 million people have died during the outbreak, which has touched every country on Earth, ravaging communities and economies.
However, the advent of vaccines and treatments has changed the pandemic situation considerably since 2020, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said he hopes to see an end to the emergency this year, particularly if access to the counter-measures can be improved globally…
Advisers to the WHO expert committee on the pandemic’s status told Reuters in December that it was likely not the moment to end the emergency given the uncertainty over the wave of infections in China after it lifted its strict zero-COVID measures at the end of 2022.
(link)
(link)
(link)
The first week-long holiday in the Chinese Lunar New Year after China opened up from covid restrictions saw tourist number rebound to 88.6% of the pre-covid 2019 level and tourism spending rebound to 73.1% of 2019, the ministry of culture and tourism estimates. pic.twitter.com/iiqd4SYAe0
— Zichen Wang (@ZichenWanghere) January 27, 2023
After three years of covid, we went deep into rural China for Lunar New Year. Here's the story of what we found & how officials tried to stop us. @cnn https://t.co/Yk5Eua9SeI pic.twitter.com/JvccZHM07E
— Selina Wang (@selinawangtv) January 27, 2023
… China was an insignificant market for Paxlovid before the strict infection-control policy was lifted, but Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said the company has since distributed millions of Paxlovid treatment courses there through a deal with China’s Meheco.
Still, the status of deliveries later this year remains unclear. Talks between Pfizer and China’s government health insurer bogged down over price, and the drug is only covered by China’s broad healthcare insurance plan until late March…
Their current estimates for over $10 billion in 2023 Paxlovid sales is less than half the $22 billion Pfizer is expected to report for 2022, according to Refinitiv data. Growth in China could help offset expected declines elsewhere as many governments have built inventories of the two-drug treatment.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman has forecast about $8.7 billion in global sales for Paxlovid in 2023, including $1.9 billion from the developed world outside of the United States, Europe and emerging markets, he said in an email, adding that he is hoping for more information…
Pfizer’s tiered pricing structure sets the Paxlovid cost based on a country’s economy. The U.S. government, for example, has paid over $500 per course. Media reports suggest that the current price per course in China is 1,890 yuan, or around $280.
But China has been asking to pay less. CEO Bourla has said China – the world’s second biggest economy – is seeking a lower price than has been offered to lower middle-income countries…
Even without a deal to sell Paxlovid broadly in China, the company can still sell it there on the private market.
Morningstar analyst Damien Conover said there is a lot of private wealth in China to support a higher price with direct purchases by patients.
China is “probably the only region that we’re modeling a year-over-year increase in 2023” for Paxlovid, Conover said.
(link)
(link)
(link)
======
Scientists take a page from SARSCoV2's evolutionary history to develop a *universal vaccine* against all current & future subvariants. The vax is already being tested in animal models. By @DelthiaRicks https://t.co/ykHhyq404d pic.twitter.com/4pBdmqTvS7
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) January 30, 2023
(link)
The best evidence against lab leak is that right wing nat-sec people didn't start pushing it till after the election,
if there was good evidence pompeo or similar would have had access to it
— AH??? (@shishiqiushi) January 28, 2023
‘Microclots’ could help solve the #LongCOVID puzzle:
"Scientists are starting to detect clots in long #COVID patients’ smallest blood vessels—which might help explain the condition’s debilitating symptoms."https://t.co/n79lYmplFa— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) January 30, 2023
"5% of the [U.S.] adult population is struggling with activity limitations from #LongCovid."
https://t.co/bmy0BQVV3Q @KFF @alicelevyburns— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) January 27, 2023
Unclear why but the percentage of people who've had #COVID & currently report #LongCOVID symptoms is falling, from 19% in Jun'22 to 11% /Jan'23."
So:
– 15% of US adults say they've had long #COVID
– But just 6% have symptoms nowhttps://t.co/cSMcpdN2p3
and https://t.co/QV4ySVqh2z pic.twitter.com/eDF0YoC1EA— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) January 30, 2023
======
(link)
Reminder: if COVID turns out to be a “bioweapon”..then Donald Trump presided over the greatest foreign biological attack in American history and his response was to compliment their leader and sell them all our beef, pork, corn and soybeans. https://t.co/TjjcYU20bP
— Hal Sparks (@HalSparks) January 29, 2023
"In this study, COVID-19 was a leading cause of death among individuals aged 0 to 19 years in the US." @JAMANetworkOpen https://t.co/AWawqJ0KLl by @flaxter and colleagues pic.twitter.com/BIokfnMDez
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) January 30, 2023
I did not have “Polio isn’t that bad” on my 2023 bingo card… https://t.co/LUPVcJTpzw
— ???? snipe, lixo tóxico ????? (@snipeyhead) January 27, 2023
On The Road – BigJimSlade – Hiking in the Alps, Chamonix and Grindelwald 2022Reader Interactions
78Comments
Comments are closed.
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
115 new cases on 01/27/22.
83 new cases on 01/28/22.
87 new cases on 01/29/22.
52 new cases on 01/30/22.
Deaths at 2160, up 10 from last week. No bueno.
As for hospital beds, we’re up to 5% available now, including 23 ICU beds among 4 hospitals. The largest hospital still has no regular available beds.
New Deal democrat
Biobot updated yesterday, showing a very slight further decrease in COVID particles in wastewater nationwide. Regionally the Northeast and South showed slight decreases, while the West and Midwest showed slight increases. All regions are at levels about average for the last 8 months, with the exception of the Northeast, where levels are still elevated. The nationwide level is equivalent to about 250,000 “real” new cases a day.
Confirmed cases are down to 38,200, close to their lowest level in 9 months. The ratio of confirmed to “real” cases appears to have continued to decline over the past 6 months. This issue does not affect hospitalizations and deaths.
Hospitalizations have continued to declined sharply to 26,800, vs. 47,000 at their peak a few weeks ago, and vs. 22,900 in October and 10,300 last April. Deaths have also continued to decline to 468, close to their mid-range in the past 9 months.
Here is Dr. Eric Topol with the CDC’s most updated information on the effectiveness of boosters:
https://mobile.twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1620202355064209408?cxt=HHwWgIDU3aXdjvwsAAAA
“ Overall 91% reduction of deaths across all age groups vs unvaccinated, less (80%) without bivalent booster The absolute reduction increases w/ age; relative reduction is consistent across ages”
Barring a new variant that actually breaks through infection + vaccination resistance, this is our new endemicity. Hopefully biannual boosters will be approved for seniors, who are still by far the most vulnerable group; and annual boosters for everyone else.
Speaking of new variants, there is one identified as CH.1.1 which originated in Southeast Asia and has some experts worried because it has mutated back in the direction of Delta. So far it has appeared in over 60 countries, but there is no evidence of increased lethality so far.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 202 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, for a cumulative reported total of 5,036,342 cases. 198 of these new cases were local infections; four new cases were imported. It also reported two deaths, for an adjusted cumulative total of 36,942 deaths – 0.73% of the cumulative reported total, 0.73% of resolved cases.
11,009 Covid-19 tests were conducted oyesterday, with a positivity rate of 1.8%.
There were 9,539 active cases yesterday, 59 more than the day before. 381 were in hospital. 23 confirmed cases were in ICU; of these patients, 12 confirmed cases were on ventilators. Meanwhile, 141 more patients recovered, for a cumulative total of 4,989,861 patients recovered – 99.1% of the cumulative reported total.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 3,573 doses of vaccine on 30th January: 66 first doses, 66 second doses, 509 first booster doses, and 2,932 second booster doses. The cumulative total is 72,746,097 doses administered: 28,126,171 first doses, 27,537,780 second doses, 16,301,323 first booster doses, and 780,823 second booster doses. 86.1% of the population have received their first dose, 84.3% their second dose, 49.9% their first booster dose, and 2.4% their second booster dose.
Kay
“made you a hated pariah”
Such drama. Insufferable.
The Biden Administration investigated the lab leak theory – it’s so “contrarian” and “forbidden” that it was part of an official US inquiry- and they did it without fuss and without all this bleating about being cancelled.
Baud
@Kay:
It’s ridiculous. They were hated pariahs well before all that.
Lapassionara
I know people who survived polio. Some used crutches to walk for the rest of their lives. Others had noticeable difficulties walking unaided, and suffered in other ways as they aged.
what nonsense.
Matt McIrvin
This morning it feels like my throat and chest are finally starting to clear out, nearly two weeks after I started showing COVID symptoms.
So, for me, that’s what COVID looks like with 5 shots in me: basically a very nasty cold that developed for about 1 day into one of the most intense sore throats I’ve ever experienced, a raging irritation that was more like what you expect from a strep infection, followed by a couple weeks of general respiratory crud. I’ve had worse colds, but this was up there. I know some people had a similar experience without vaccination, but all the stats seem to imply that being up to date on shots considerably lowers your chances of a much, much worse outcome.
I use a CPAP with a nose mask for sleep apnea. That felt like a lifesaver through the worst of this: my nose was congested but never blocked up entirely, so the CPAP was capable of pushing air through it, and using it at night actually gave me a lot of relief–without it, I’d probably have been breathing through my mouth and making myself even more sore. I imagine that while I was contagious, the CPAP was spewing clouds of virus into the surrounding air, but everyone else at home was already infected anyway so this wasn’t an issue.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Glad you are feeling better.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: thanks!
eclare
@Lapassionara: My US rep sometimes uses a cane.
eclare
@Matt McIrvin: Glad you are better, and thank you for sharing your story as a fellow five jabber.
Kay
@Baud:
Kevin McCarthy and Marjorie Taylor Greene will get to the bottom of this- maybe bring in the NY Field Office of the FBI. The real objective, unbiased professionals.
I sometimes think about how horrible they will be in the next pandemic. This X 1000
Soprano2
I see that Dr. Adalja has no familiarity with the U.S. health care system, or indeed with how people actually are. Tell them that they need a tailored booster, or tailored series of boosters, and they’ll never do it. Pairing a yearly Covid vaccine booster with the flu shot is smart and effective, because it adapts to habits people already have and is simple and easy. Whatever it is this doctor thinks they should do will be highly ineffective. In an ideal world where everyone had easy access to good health care, his approach might work, but in the U.S……no.
Soprano2
@Kay: They cannot stand to be questioned even a little bit. It’s pathetic.
Kay
@Soprano2:
That’s what I did for last booster- flu + booster. I regretted it a little though because one or the other had a bit of a kick- my daughter thought it was flu shot, something with formulation this year. I think I would split them up next time.
gene108
@Lapassionara:
One of my cousins had polio as a child. She has trouble walking, the last time I saw her years ago. Probably worse now, as we all get older.
Soprano2
@Kay: You know what’s bad is that there actually does need to be a legitimate investigation of the abuse of pandemic relief funds. There’s a case in the news here right now of a man who took out dozens of PPP loans, allegedly fraudulently, and used them to buy cars, yachts, and to make home improvements. I knew there would be a lot of stuff like this, because when you have to go fast you can’t be careful and fraudsters take advantage of that. The problem is that of course the R’s won’t do a legitimate investigation; I’m sure they’ll target poor people who got unemployment fraudulently, and ignore cases like the one above. We’re going to have to depend on the DOJ and IRS to find and prosecute those cases.
Kay
@Soprano2:
They boldly announced the other day that they think standardized tests are a good measure of intelligence/learning wokesters with their nuanced assessments be damned.
So they are perfectly aligned with the last 50 years of United States policy. So, so brave. I tear up just thinking about how they will suffer for defending…. the SAT.
eclare
@Soprano2: And with easy to read charts! Dr. Walensky of the CDC has the same blinders, no knowledge of how human behavior or our healthcare system actually works.
Soprano2
@Kay: I got them both at the same time too. The Covid one hurt a lot more than the previous ones had. It had a little bit of an effect, not much though. It was worth it for the convenience. That’s the thing, you have to make it convenient for people or they won’t do it. Letting people get flu shots at places like CVS and Wal-Mart is smart, because people are already there anyway. Make it inconvenient, and most people won’t ever do it.
Soprano2
@eclare: Dr. Walensky definitely needed a good PR person from the beginning. Some people are just clueless about actual human behavior.
Kay
@Soprano2:
I think there are lots of prosecutions. They would be federal and if your US Attorney has a website they usually announce indictments/prosecutions there. We just had a local woman indicted for a PPP loan for a fake dog grooming business. The horrible part is she used the information of a real dog grooming business, so those poor people were in the hot seat for a while.
But I think they are bringing indictments, etc. I criticize them a lot for what I consider blatantly preferential treatment of powerful/rich people but on this they seem to be quite aggressive.
gene108
@Soprano2:
Even with a better healthcare system it’d be hard to get people to be tested to see what custom booster they needed. It’s hard enough managing a chronic condition without adding another series of lab work and appointments on top of it. A good portion of the people most at need will probably just skip a booster, rather than deal with hassle of extra labs and appointments.
People have other things they want to do than be continually tested, which gets mentally taxing after a point.
Baud
@Kay:
It’s not really new. Conservatives have long played the victim for defending the status quo.
Baud
@gene108:
Agreed.
Kay
@Soprano2:
The guy at CVS who gave me the shots told me to space them out but he’s not the boss of me.
eclare
@Soprano2: I never really bought into/understood the whole “ivory tower” syndrome until I saw her reaction to covid.
Matt McIrvin
@Soprano2:
This made me wonder what fraction of Americans actually get the yearly flu shot. It seems to have been 54% by the end of the 2021-22 season, and close to 58% the year before that. 2022-23 so far is running ahead of 2021-22, so we’ll likely be closer to the higher number. There are racial/ethnic disparities: coverage of Black and Hispanic people is somewhat lower.
That’s way more than I thought. It’s far from complete coverage but it’s way larger than the fraction of Americans who got the last COVID booster, so that suggests that this is a good approach to take from an overall public-health perspective. (I was wondering if general antivax sentiment would bring the number down, but I don’t think it has–seems like the lower 2021-22 numbers were more of a transient thing caused by the perception that everyone was isolating against Omicron anyway.)
My impression from the bivalent booster campaign was that there were many, many Americans who were not aware they were eligible for it, let alone that it was recommended. Messaging about previous boosters had given them the impression that it was being rationed to higher-risk populations.
eclare
@Kay: I got them at the same time last year but spaced them out this year because I got the booster in Sept and wanted to wait until Oct to get the flu shot. No issues either year, but people and the flu shot are different. Luckily there must be a Walgreens here every mile or so, so convenience is not an issue.
lowtechcyclist
Not to mention, the right wing in this country was all in with “hey Chinese virus, c’mon in, door’s open!” The evangelicals were all “we walk in faith, not in fear” so they weren’t going to mask or social distance; the secular right-wingers showed up with guns at the Michigan state capitol to protest Michigan’s attempts to limit the virus’ spread. On their part, it wasn’t even unconditional surrender to this alleged Chinese attack; they were all but welcoming it as a liberator.
NotMax
Far as I’m aware have thus far escaped it. Fully vaxxed, fully boosted.
Did experience some kind of seasonal coughing and sinus crud in late November/early December which lasted three weeks to the day, but symptoms and longevity so removed or absent from reports of COVID I’m 99.99% certain it wasn’t that.
Lapassionara
@gene108: Plus there is something called “post-polio syndrome” which adds to the difficulties that someone who had polio has as he or she ages.
Those of us who lived through the sea change that the polio vaccine brought to our daily lives have very little patience with anti-vaxxers.
Matt McIrvin
@gene108: I could see a SIMPLE addendum to the recommended schedule making sense: a yearly booster with your fall flu shot for everyone, and an extra 6-month booster for people over 50 or with chronic conditions that elevate risk. Nothing that would require getting extra lab tests from your PCP.
Matt McIrvin
@NotMax: There were a lot of things going around then: RSV, various cold viruses. COVID itself manifests in a lot of ways though; for some it is a mild cold.
Matt McIrvin
@lowtechcyclist: Their intuition, as always with conservatives, seemed to be that the problem was “dirty” foreign people and that all we needed to do was put restrictions on them–but the kinds of people they liked needed no restrictions on behavior.
dmsilev
@NotMax: I’ve also been among the lucky. I’m pretty sure of that; my employer has been doing surveillance testing for over two years now (I have a lot of practice spitting into little cups…), so I have a long collection of “congratulations, your test is negative!”) emails.
eclare
@Matt McIrvin: I am hoping that is where CDC/FDA land, because it cannot be a “discuss this with your healthcare provider” decision. I got my booster last Sept, and when six months are up I am going to schedule another.
ETA I am over fifty.
Baud
@eclare:
The ivory tower attitude is real. But like all criticisms of the left of center, it is overdone, and largely ignores the right wing version of it.
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: I got the bivalent booster and the flu shot at the same time. They put them in opposite shoulders so I had two sore shoulders instead of one. But it wasn’t a huge problem otherwise. It seems to me that I generally have my flu-shot reactions (mild headache, general logyness) the same day as the shot, and my COVID-shot reactions the following day, so that gets spread out a little.
kalakal
@Matt McIrvin: Glad you feel better
NotMax
If the emergency declarations are lifted does it follow any future shots will no longer be free?
BTW, Costco my shot giver of choice (they offer the whole slew of vaccines, not only for COVID). Easy peasy. Go online, enter your personal data, make an appointment for a day and time convenient for you, show up. They will send you e-mail reminders, too. In many locales one need not have a membership.
jonas
Re: the tailored vaccines, there are a few companies out there who have tried to get the FDA to approve Covid antibody tests to assess an individual’s level of immunity so as to better time the administration of vaccines, understand previous exposure(s), etc. Getting boosters too close together if you already have a high degree of immune response can actually be counterproductive. The FDA has not approved them for individual use, however, because they think that people, outside a clinical setting, would read results showing high antibody scores as an excuse not to take precautions (e.g. masking) or blow off getting a vaccine.
Ken
Things like this make me wonder if everyone has these clots, but no one was looking for them until now. I assume the study had control groups (though since I started reading retractionwatch regularly, I’m less sure about that).
mrmoshpotato
That’s because the “lab leak!” crowd is 100% stupid.
kalakal
@eclare:
That’s what I’m going to do as well
Matt McIrvin
@eclare: I should add that I did NOT get Paxlovid; I got a telemedicine meeting with a practicing nurse almost immediately in case they were going to recommend it, but he did not, arguing that Paxlovid was intended to prevent severe COVID and, given my early symptoms, the chances of this were very low. Given how it shook out, I do wonder if I’d have been better off pressing the issue and taking it.
jonas
@Matt McIrvin:
I also got the bivalent booster and flu shot at the same time. I had Moderna for my main sequence of vaccines and boosters and it was rough each time: at least 48 hrs of feeling like warmed-over shit. The bivalent was Pfizer, though, and didn’t seem to have any significant side effects aside from the sore shoulder. Whether that was because of the different manufacturer or just because it was my fourth shot, so meh, I have no idea. They’re both mRNA-type vaccines, so they work the same way. Go figure. I know I was exposed to someone with Covid at least one time over the past couple of months, but never came down with it, so so far so good.
NotMax
@Matt McIrvin
All I had was a persistent shallow cough and overstuffed sinuses cranking out glop on triple overtime. No sore throat, no fever, no headache, no body aches, no shortness of breath, no fatigue. Guaifenesin (expectorant) did aid in abating chest congestion to a degree (I’m partial to the pill form rather than the liquid cough meds, although the recommendation is to take a pill every four hours if needed along with a whole glass of water).
Fall/winter brings tourists carrying FSM knows what along with their luggage.
jonas
@mrmoshpotato:
It’s not stupid to consider an accidental lab leak as a possible source for the outbreak. The problem is, as you say, most of the people who have latched on to the lab leak theory almost always do so to grind some axe or another, portraying it as a nefarious conspiracy involving Dr. Fauci, Chinese military intelligence, and Hunter Biden or something. That’s where the stupid comes in.
Matt McIrvin
@jonas: There’s a difference: the Pfizer vaccine is a smaller dose, even for the boosters. It stands to reason that this would correspond to weaker side effects, but there seems to be a large random component too.
I got Moderna for my initial shots and Pfizer for all the boosters since then, for no reason other than what they happened to have on hand. My side effects were never that bad–what hit me hard around the same time was Shingrix. But it varies a lot from person to person.
NotMax
@kalkal
Ditto. Have been following an every six months regimen since the second initial round of jabs.
jonas
@Matt McIrvin:
Yes, now that you mention it, I remember now having heard/read that the Pfizer dose is not as big. That was probably it.
Mai Naem mobile
@NotMax: for the pharmacy stuff you don’t have to be a Costco member. CVS here is easy to deal with. They usually have one of 3-4 stores within an area that is doing the walk in shots every day. It seemed like they rotate the stores so I guess people can be within walking distance to a store.
Ohio Mom
@NotMax: That’s a good question, once the health emergency is lifted, will vaccines still be free? I vaguely remember reading somewhere recently that one of the drug companies was planning to jack up the price but I am covered by Medicare and since different rules will probably apply to me, I did not make a careful mental note.
Some of what lifting the health emergency means is lots of people getting kicked off of Medicaid, but we will have to check with David Anderson for those details. Again, my attention has become rather narrowly focused, if it doesn’t apply to me, I skip the details.
Jeffro
@Kay: if there’s a pandemic anytime in the next 20-30 years, I have almost zero hope that we’ll muster a better response. I’d like to be wrong, but this is America: we not only don’t learn from our mistakes, we can’t even remember them.
sab
@New Deal democrat: When you say biannual boosters for seniors don’t you mean semiannual? I thought biannual was every two years and semiannual is twice a year (every six months.)
Mo MacArbie
It was my understanding that there already hasn’t been money appropriated for buying any more vaccines, so we’re on our own (or our insurance) from here on out.
New Deal democrat
@sab: Yes, you are correct. Thanks.
rikyrah
@Matt McIrvin:
Glad that you are on the mend. :)
lowtechcyclist
@Matt McIrvin:
Either way, I’ve been thinking for awhile that if the word ‘Enemies’ in Article III, Section 3 wasn’t generally regarded as being limited to sentient beings, all those anti-mask, anti-vax types would have been committing treason all this time.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Nah…people already hated them.
rikyrah
@Soprano2:
Got mine at the CVS in my building on break. It was that convenient. Just had to call the pharmacy to see when he could do it. A simple phone call from my desk…got a time…got in an elevator….and done.
Convenience is the key.
lowtechcyclist
@jonas:
Sure, but the key word is ‘consider’ rather than ‘become an energetic proponent on the basis of zero evidence besides the normal inability of science to prove a negative.’
It’s that difference that defined the “lab leak!” crowd.
Matt McIrvin
@NotMax: That indeed doesn’t sound like COVID, but, again, symptoms vary a lot.
One of my issues is that the standard cough-syrup medicines, guaifenesin and dextromethorphan, don’t do a damn thing for me. Never have so I don’t even bother with them. What does help a bit is Fisherman’s Friend cough drops, just an industrial-strength blast of menthol.
Matt McIrvin
@Jeffro: We remember them WRONG. When the next pandemic hits one of the major messages will be that we shouldn’t hysterically overreact to that one like we did to COVID.
Matt McIrvin
@rikyrah: Thanks! I figured that as someone who kept posting updates about the local COVID situation, it behooved me to report on my experience when it happened to me. The worst thing about it was that our bout of COVID nixed my daughter’s international school trip, but she took it with grace–much better for that to happen than her getting sick on the road. I plan to do what I can to keep it from happening again for as long as possible.
Scout211
CNN has a list of services and procedures for COVID-19 that will be covered and not covered after May 11th. (Some of the funding for free services has already run out).
Scout211
Our bivalent booster shots last year at CVS were billed to our Part D (Tricare-for-Life), so I guess the commercial pharmacies have already started billing the insurance companies.
YY_Sima Qian
On 1/28 the China CDC provided a summary of state of the exit tsunami in China as of 1/26:
The China CDC’s weekly gazette also published a retrospective report of the exit tsunami, w/ provincial break downs. A lot of the national level data (trends in reported infections, hospitalizations, severe/critical cases, & deaths recorded at hospitals, etc.) I had posted in A.L.’s 1/26 update, so I will not repeat them here. Some additional interesting national data that I have never seen published before:
Everything still points to an exit tsunami of incredible intensity, but short duration.
As of 1/26, 3,489.748M vaccine shots have been injected in Mainland China, 1,310.207M individuals have taken at least 1 shot (or 92.94% of the total population), 1,276.549M individuals have completed their primary courses (or 90.55%), & 826.583M individuals have taken at least 1 booster shot (or 58.64%). Among the > 60 y.o. cohort, 241.611M individuals have taken at least 1 shot (or 91.53% of the cohort), 230.127M individuals have completed their primary courses (or 87.18%), & 192.227M individuals have taken at least 1 booster shot (or 72.82%). Of course, likely 80% of the Chinese population have also been infected in the exit tsunami, which functions as a booster.
Taiwan, Hong Kong & Macau do not appear to be publishing daily data dumps, so I am using data from Worldometer.
On 1/30, Hong Kong reported 3,283 new positive cases & 5 new deaths. There have been 13,338 total COVID-19 deaths to date.
On 1/30, Macau reported 1 new positive case & 0 new deaths. There have been 120 total COVID-19 deaths to date.
On 1/30, Taiwan added 22,276 new positive cases & 30 new deaths. There have been 16,276 total COVID-19 deaths to date.
Kristine
@Kay: When I got the flu shot +Covid booster in September, I recall I had a rough few days, and that the flu arm hurt way more than the booster arm. Last Friday I got the solo Covid booster; 12 hours later, aches and chills that subsided after a few hours. Injection site really hurt. I felt a little wobbly the next day but recovered by the afternoon.
Kristine
One thing I learned last Friday was that my UHC insurance would not cover the cost of in-home test kits. I still have some that had their expiry dates extended, so I’m covered, but I admit to feeling irritated.
It’s also getting to be time for me to start combing the Medicare lit. I’ll be signing up in April.
Scout211
Congratulations!
If you want personal experiences, recommendations or advice, you could ask them in any open thread here on Balloon-juice. This site is rife with Medicare recipients (or should I say a hotbed?) who have a lot of helpful information and personal experiences with Medicare plans. I’m happy with my plan but have learned some things from others here who have shared their experiences, both good and bad.
Most of those comments are in David’s insurance threads so you could search through those. Or you could just ask for information in the comments on any open thread.
Bill Arnold
This review is a couple of weeks old and maybe already linked. Found it useful and well-written, with good figures. (A bit technical but not impenetrable.)
Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations (Nature Reviews Microbiology, 13 January 2023, Hannah E. Davis, Lisa McCorkell, Julia Moore Vogel & Eric J. Topol)
Mel
@eclare: I agree. I am still burning mad about her comment about it being a “good” thing that the majority of Covid deaths are among the high-risk, elderly, and disabled. Whether it was mis-speaking, or a Freudian slip, it was a terrible statement to hear.
After that gaffe, and the extremely muddled “guidelines” regarding vaccines, masking, etc. she was assigned a communications expert who was supposed to guide/educate her so that her public facing communication was clearer (and less loaded with minefield statements). If what we are seeing in current communications and approved info on the CDC website is the new and improved Walensky – well, yikes. More of the same poor communication.
Additionally, she doesn’t seem to demonstrate a clear understanding of or concern about the impact that Long Covid is having, both on individuals, families, and the workforce, nor of the long term impact that this large and this lengthy a disabling event is going to have on the healthcare system, social systems, and the economy.
Out of all the immensely qualified public health and infectious disease experts nationwide, there has to be a better individual who is more suited to taking on the role at such a complex, complicated time.
Bill Arnold
@lowtechcyclist:
When beliefs are not falsifiable, they are Beliefs.
The Science papers from July 2022 should have shut lab escape people up, or least quieted them down. Nope.
The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic (26 July 2022, MICHAEL WOROBEY et al)
The molecular epidemiology of multiple zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2 (26 July 2022, JONATHAN E. PEKAR et al)
Chris T.
The survival rate of shooting yourself in the foot is pretty high too. Therefore it’s just fine to shoot yourself in the foot!
Report with pictures – don’t look if you’re easily grossed out
Tim Ellis
@Chris T.: lol indeed
The “99% survival rate” talking point was always bad faith garbage but it’s especially frustrating as someone who has suffered a great deal from Long COVID and COVID related complications. It turns out dying is not the only bad thing that can happen!
That’s before we even get into how COVID elevates risk of stroke, diabetes, early onset dementia, heart attack, and so on… all of which are then not counted as COVID deaths, despite the interplay.
I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir but this all drives me bonkers lol. Like all of society just got immediately much stupider than I expected (and my expectations were… not high lol)
Mel
@Tim Ellis: Couldn’t agree more, and I am so very, very sorry that you are having to fight the Long Covid nightmare.
Years ago, I developed a post-infectious syndrome nearly identical to Long Covid. In addition to the autonomic and endocrine and cardiac and clotting horrors, it also damaged my immune function and triggered two autoimmune illnesses and an IGG immune deficiency.
Hence my anger at the CDC blithely tossing me and so many others on the trash heap, and willfully encouraging policies that will consign so many more to these sorts of awful circumstances.
We deserve better.