Pfizer expects 24% of the U.S. population, or about 82 million people, to receive COVID-19 shots this year, CFO David Denton said at a conference on Monday, reiterating the vaccine maker's estimates from earlier this year. https://t.co/sU3uWFgc47
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) September 18, 2023
"I would argue that this is not a booster," @KatherineJWu tells @loracorkelley in The Atlantic Daily. "This is another move toward routinizing COVID-19 vaccines to be like the annual flu vaccine." https://t.co/2nGvIj73gJ
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 13, 2023
U.S. COVID levels approach pandemic's 2020 peak.https://t.co/woNCt8bqQH
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) September 16, 2023
Sharing is caring:
Free, updated COVID vaccines are available for everyone 6 months and up! Learn more 👇 pic.twitter.com/HtqbhFLVC2
— Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH (@CDCDirector) September 19, 2023
People across at least 10 states have now been infected by BA.2.86, a highly mutated variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 that authorities have been closely tracking. https://t.co/aDyo2NFRWQ
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 19, 2023
Home tests still work to detect #Covid, but there are a few reasons why your test may not pick up an infection. Nearly all of us have some degree of underlying immunity to the #coronavirus now & that can affect the performance of the test https://t.co/urJ5VTXyhL pic.twitter.com/pIR5N4S4Kc
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) September 18, 2023
Here are the case and death numbers for last week. Early data suggests the current surge may have peaked for now https://t.co/hMEBQ5CQj1
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) September 18, 2023
Weekly U.S. COVID update:
– New cases: 243,847 est.
– Average: 227,732 (+24,100)
– States reporting: 50/50
– In hospital: 13,726 (+2,168)
– In ICU: 1,722 (+145)
– New deaths: 1,584
– Average: 1,042 (+190)1/4
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) September 18, 2023
More than 20,000 Americans were hospitalized with COVID last week, the highest since early March pic.twitter.com/dWtOU5xwNf
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) September 18, 2023
STAT's @HelenBranswell joined this week's episode of "The Readout LOUD" #podcast to discuss Covid this fall and the rollout of boosters shots aimed at the latest viral variants. Listen: https://t.co/YQKUHBAEmg pic.twitter.com/wyjs2YzXQt
— STAT (@statnews) September 16, 2023
Covid is now endemic, and so is anti-science idiocy:
… Many U.S. states have ended their COVID-19 vaccine mandates. But America’s childhood vaccine mandates for school entry are also vulnerable. As researchers of vaccination social science, ethics, and policy, we have sometimes encountered an optimistic view that immunization in America will soon snap back to a pre-pandemic “normal.” But this hope ignores the cracks that were already present in America’s immunization social order before the pandemic, cracks that COVID-19 only widened. State-based conflicts over school enrollment vaccine mandates became increasingly political and contentious during the 2010s. Continued political polarization about vaccine mandates is likely to reduce immunization rates and precipitate the return of previously controlled diseases. That’s why it’s time to adapt to vaccine refusal and prepare to manage these outbreaks, rather than hope they can be prevented…
Democratic lawmakers have now eliminated nonmedical exemptions in California, New York, Washington State (for measles vaccine), Maine, and Connecticut. New national organizations, like the Safe Families Coalition, are pushing for similar changes in many other states. Where Democrats organized to abolish vaccine opt-outs, Republicans fought to protect or expand them. The fight continues, as Republicans look for ways to further weaken childhood vaccine mandates. A case in point: on 17 April this year a Republican judge in Mississippi reinstated a religious exemption to that state’s vaccine mandates that courts had overturned in 1979.
Attempts to scrap nonmedical exemptions inject new kinds of coercion into a fracturing immunization social order. This intensifies the politicization of school vaccine mandates and erodes public support for these critical policies. Conflicts about COVID-19 pandemic control measures were not outliers, but instead signs of a crumbling immunization consensus. The bitter truth is that nonpartisan vaccine policy was dead before the world had heard of COVID-19.
Removing nonmedical vaccine exemptions will not overcome vaccine refusal or prevent outbreaks. Only in states where Democrats control all levers of state power can such bills pass, given unified Republican opposition. These policies can deliver local increases in immunization rates. However, even in Democrat-led states, enforcement is likely to be uneven at best, and to be worse in communities where immunization rates are already low. For example, the leadership of private schools is unlikely to enforce strict vaccine mandates that they believe are inconsistent with their values, or that will cause them to lose substantial tuition revenue…
Given the prospect of uneven state and institutional support for vaccination, individuals and families must also brace themselves for more frequent disease outbreaks. Some new parents already prevent unvaccinated relatives from visiting their babies. Families will need to consider extending these forms of private immunization governance when states can no longer protect them.
We are not talking about “giving up.” Governments should continue to promote vaccine acceptance and enforce vaccine mandates. The right kinds of outreach can sway some people who are on the fence about vaccinating. But these efforts alone are unlikely to be sufficient to prevent future outbreaks. Adapting to the times we live in is the only way forward.
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The chief of the World Health Organization urged Beijing to offer more information on the origins of COVID-19 and is ready to send a second team to probe the matter, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. https://t.co/SBvIBNnUHT
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) September 17, 2023
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Italy: Covid data to 10th September 2023
"An incidence of diagnosed and reported cases of 44 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, an increase compared to the previous week (31 cases per 100,000 inhabitants).
English: https://t.co/8bQZiz7L1m
Italian: https://t.co/WcRJIBuWuW pic.twitter.com/stKEYavAnZ
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) September 17, 2023
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#Covid has changed & so has our immunity. Our B & T cells—keepers of immune memories—aren’t as blind to the virus as they were in 2020. CDC has screened blood samples & estimates 97% of the US population has some immunity via vaccination, infection or both https://t.co/fR0oQkjzFG pic.twitter.com/F2Cf0EgQRg
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) September 17, 2023
https://t.co/DyEKg8nv82 by @ronlin @latimes pic.twitter.com/bE9HEcltJo
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) September 17, 2023
Important update on myocarditis from Covid mRNA vaccines for people age 12-39 who received bivalent boosters:
only 2 cases among over 550,000 people dosed
Presented at CDC meeting todayhttps://t.co/kJ7kL83ynF pic.twitter.com/hRSMJZSBwk— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) September 13, 2023
Understanding myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome—an elusive condition that often follows an infection and shares many similarities with #LongCovid—could improve long #COVID19 research, a 2022 #SciencePerspective argued. https://t.co/MzFGyQYFkG #ScienceMagArchives pic.twitter.com/JfnhNqkhV6
— Science Magazine (@ScienceMagazine) September 16, 2023
Since we’re coming up on deer season…
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Reminder, there are a number of groups on local, state, and national level advocating for stronger COVID prevention efforts, providing free masks and tests, tracking places with COVID protections, and more! Learn more on the directory we put together at https://t.co/SRlgfBGECW https://t.co/8BWKYUHi3L
— Myra Batchelder #KeepMasksInHealthcare (@myrabatchelder) September 11, 2023
Dangerous sign. The @US_FDA was right to assert lack of any evidence of benefit for ivermectin. But the court ruled in favor of doctors prescribing whatever they wanthttps://t.co/B8nFquydXF pic.twitter.com/ZXSLZOEyjQ
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) September 15, 2023
No, Pfizer's #Covid vax doesn't cause 'VAIDS.' That's NOT a real condition. A stupid anti-science post on X stated Sept 12 that Pfizer's shot causes “vaccine-induced AIDS.” It included a photo of a child whose face is covered w/ sores. Total fiction. https://t.co/BumEWLOYis
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) September 19, 2023
The cost of covid vaccines is not a barrier to universal health care and if you think it is, you’re a moron.
— Clean Observer (@Hammbear2024) September 14, 2023
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eclare
I have an appt tomorrow at ten! House Moderna.
Bunter
A bit of anecdata for anyone interested, I got my booster (Pfizer) yesterday at Duane Reade/Walgreens, and, while waiting, was speaking with the store manager who said they’d had 100% of slots filled across Manhattan stores and were running out of shots. Glad to hear my NYC peeps are taking it seriously. They also wouldn’t fill out my vax card because they said this would be annual like flu. And my job is having the flu shot clinic in October and have the updated Covid shot offered too.
Matt McIrvin
Comparing current COVID levels to the spring 2020 wave is really apples and oranges–the initial strain was both far less contagious and, in a population with no prior resistance, far more deadly.
Matt McIrvin
I signed up my whole family yesterday for an appointment at the Target pharmacy. We’ll see if our insurance works–the stories I’ve been hearing of bureaucratic messes caused by the end of emergency government subsidy concern me.
Cheryl from Maryland
My appointment for yesterday was cancelled as CVS ran out of vaccine. Next slot for the reschedule is a week from today.
Bunter
@Matt McIrvin:
I’m sure it’s insurance specific, but I handed over my card and was not charged anything.
Dagaetch
So I’m currently experiencing symptoms that match my previous bout with COVID, but two days of rapid tests have come back negative. I’m weirdly annoyed, because even though I think I’ll be better in a few days, I won’t “know” if I had it again without a positive test. And I like knowing things like that!
Scout211
We got our flu shots and our updated COVID-19 (2023-2024) vaccination yesterday. No problems with the insurance at CVS (Target), but we are Medicare.
It’s not called a booster now, by the way. It’s the updated COVID-19 (2023-2024). The guy who gave us the shot told us that it looked like they were moving to yearly vaccinations like the flu shot so the name is changing to describe more of a seasonal vaccination.
Another thing that changed is the name of the specific brand of vaccination. We made the appointment for Moderna but he signed our vaccination record “Spikevax” because it’s now sold commercially so they are writing in the commercial name. Well, at least that is what that particular CVS is doing now.
He also remarked, “This COVID vaccination seems to be really popular.”
Matt McIrvin
@Scout211: I’m not sure if my old paper vaccination card is even usable any more–it was damaged in a fall into a swimming pool–but I doubt it matters.
Soprano2
@Matt McIrvin: I agree, plus then we literally had no idea how many people had it or even what the major symptoms of it were
ETA – I asked about the vaccine at CVS last week; they said they hadn’t received it yet, maybe this week. I also asked about the RSV vaccine, and found out I had to have a prescription from my doctor to get it. I messaged both my and hubby’s doctors, so now we both have prescriptions for it. I haven’t decided how to do them yet, I’ve heard the RSV vaccine can have quite a “kick”, so I’m not sure if I want both that and the Covid vaccine at the same time. I also need to get the pneumonia vaccine. I’ll get the flu one at work.
Another Scott
“… 97% of the US has some immunity …”
Grr…
I really wish that the pundits and tweeters wouldn’t keep saying things like that as if it’s useful information. It confuses the message about the need for people to keep getting vaccinated regularly. It’s kinda similar to the message very early on that normal people wearing N95 masks was useless because there weren’t enough people to train users on how to fit and wear them correctly. That got translated to – “don’t wear masks because it’s useless”. :-/
Keep the message simple – New updated vaccines are available for free. Get vaccinated to protect yourselves and your loved ones.
[ sigh ]
Thanks, AL, and everyone. Stay safe.
Cheers,
Scott.
Soprano2
@Scout211: Maybe as more people have had Covid multiple times and found it’s not pleasant they’ve decided it’s better to get vaccinated.
Scout211
You don’t actually need it. They have an electronic record of your vaccination and send you the documentation. And most (all?) states have a register. But they do ask for it and write in your vaccination if you have it.
Honus
@Dagaetch: keep testing. Last month I got sick and tested negative for three days before testing positive. I’ve heard several similar stories of people having identical symptoms (sore throat, cough, aches, fever) and testing negative for a few days.
hrprogressive
That article about “learning to live with outbreaks” is pretty fucking depressing.
While I made peace with the idea the specific contagion wasn’t likely to vanish, I has hoped we would at least get to a point where, generally, we could spend most of the year “not worried about it” and then just have a “respiratory virus season” that now includes c19.
Guess the Permanent Pandemic really does rage on, without end.
Matt McIrvin
@Another Scott: I think it’s useful context for other stories. E.g. I’ve heard dismayingly low figures for “vaccine effectiveness” of the current booster at preventing severe disease compared to the huge numbers from spring 2021, but most of that drop is because it’s measured relative to a baseline of far higher existing immunity.
Another example: it annoys me that people treat it as a law of nature that viruses evolve to be less harmful, when most of what’s going on is that our bodies change to be better at fighting them (and vaccines are a big part of that).
Scout211
@Soprano2: Re: RSV.
We got our RSV at CVS a few weeks ago. We are both Medicare and no prescription was required. But it’s approved for age 60+ so it does cover people who are not on Medicare and apparently there are different requirements and copay amounts depending on the insurance plan. Under our Medicare part D, ours was free.
The original two COVID vaccinations and the two Shingrix vaccinations knocked me back hard. I did not have reaction to the RSV vaccination, except for a sore shoulder for a week. But I didn’t pair it with any other vaccinations at the time.
Anne Laurie
@Dagaetch: If you look at the seventh embed in the post itself (the one about home tests), you’ll see you’re not the only one having this problem. Keep testing, if you can — and maybe call your doctor / urgent care about getting a paxlovid scrip, if it’s not too late for that?
Matt McIrvin
@hrprogressive: For perspective, virus levels through the summer of 2023 really were much lower than last year. The current early-fall outbreak in Massachusetts has us at the level of infection that pertained through much of summer 2022.
Dagaetch
@Anne Laurie: Thanks! I did see that article and it was informative. Right now my symptoms are mild, and I would have to stop some other medications in order to take Paxlovid which I would really prefer not to do. So fingers crossed that it stays mild, whatever it is!
Matt McIrvin
I think many commentators exaggerate the extent to which COVID *isn’t* seasonal, you can see a clear seasonal pattern in the wastewater and hospital counts though COVID isn’t completely absent at other times.
Cameron
I don’t get it. COVID isn’t a seasonal disease;we’ve already seen that. Why are we supposed to act like it is? Once a year shots….I guess we’ll see.
MazeDancer
In my teeny village, the local CVS has run out of appointments. Have to drive 45 minutes in any direction to book.
Fortunately, having signed up the instant I could, will be boosted at 11:00.
But going to ask, first, if it’s the new stuff.
Thrilled people are wanting the vaccine.
Ella in New Mexico
Fifth Circuit strikes again with that Ivermectin ruling.
Last week a patient sent my colleague a message by the patient portal as follows:
Hello. Because COVID is starting to surge again, I want you to send me a prescription for prophylactic Ivermectin as recommended by the doctors here” ( Link to the FLCCC quack pot site)
Because she believes in evidenced based medicine she replied that no, it’s not a proven COVID treatment and so she won’t be able to do that. “I apologize but I am not comfortable prescribing ivermectin for you.”
His reply was “responding to my health care request with”i am not comfortable” is both childish and unprofessional. There are too many cowards at your organization. Others have been more than willing.”
Dude—who is a professor of Computer Science at our University—filed a complaint with our patient advocate, too.
Sight. Year four of COVID CRAZEEE begins…
RaflW
Yes to that Atlantic piece boosted by Tom Nichols. I got my flu shot last week, will get my Covid shot next week. I scheduled the flu shot when there wasn’t info on when the new Covid formula would be approved, then kept the appt in case I could get the two-fer, but alas not quite. This was only my second time ever getting a flu shot, and interestingly, I think I had a very mild reaction — I was unusually tired the day after, tho no other indicators. If that was the case (could easily be random noise) I’m glad to separate them.
I am 4 for 5 of having mild but definitely noticeable side effects from the Covid shots. Just 24h, and lethargic and maybe a tiny fever. My partner’s dad got his shot Monday and felt mildly side-effecty yesterday. But without complaint. He is, slightly amazingly, a no-vid so far!
Sure Lurkalot
Had a confirmed appointment at CVS Sunday only to arrive to a speak to a nasty tech who said that no vaccine had been delivered. Rebooked at Walgreens and no problem getting it yesterday. The tech said they had 100 appointments the day before and got supply from another store.
I’ve got a very sore arm and a bit of a buzzy head but nothing too drastic. Hope to run some errands and get a walk in.
CaseyL
So far, in my area of Seattle, it seems only Walgreen’s and CVS have the new Covid shot, and their appointments have filled up. Since I’d prefer to use my regular pharmacy anyway, and I still have a couple months’ immunity (hopefully) from my May booster, I can wait a week or two and see if more vaccines arrive.
New Deal democrat
Biobot updated yesterday, indicating a decline from the peak one and two weeks ago. There were some revisions, but it looks more likely than not that this will hold – although the decline is entirely due to the South Census region, while the other three show slight increases or holding steady.
With hospitalizations above 20,000 one week ago, they are close to “catching up” with the % increase previously measured by Biobot. Deaths also increased again to 844 in the week of August 19, and are already higher on a preliminary basis for the next week. If they come close to quadrupling as particles did, and hospitalizations are approaching, they will ultimately be reported at about 2,000 for this week or next.
RaflW
@Soprano2: Check with your clinic if you have a chance, but I’ve read some recommendations to not have the Covid and RSV vaccines together.
Flu + Covid at the same time is okay (very, very small drop in antibody titers in a couple smallish studies, but FDA says its worth the convenience and certainly safe).
RaflW
@Cameron: My impression is, this is the best that can be done from a broad-based public health perspective. A fair number of people are willing to go to their dental hygienist twice a year, but the number of folks who would be open to getting more than one Covid shot a year is probably a fair bit less than even the disappointing 24% of the population Pfizer thinks will get this new formula shot.
Public health folks have to try their darndest to balance what is generally achievable with what might be individually optimal. And while Covid waves can arrive at any time of year, synching the shot with the return of school and more indoor time likely makes the most sense.
And doing a two-fer with the annual flu shot is also likely to increase longer-term participation. Amazingly (IMO) a little over half of Americans get the annual flu shot. We can only dream, right now, of people getting a combo at that rate!
Glidwrith
@Matt McIrvin: Target pharmacies were eaten by CVS, but the MinuteClinics still have their association with Kaiser.
sab
@eclare: We had an appointment for yesterday afternoon, then CVS texted us that they don’t have the vaccine yet. So we had to reschedule for Friday, and 15 miles away in a lily white suburb. We had our choice between two lily white suburbs, but nothing in our city.
sab
@Bunter: Well maybe that explains why CVS cancelled our in town appointments and sent us to the suburbs.
sab
@Soprano2: I have noticed an increasing number of employees in my local grocery are masking up again. Not so much the customers.
arrieve
@Bunter: I got my shot (back to Moderna after two Pfizers–I like to mix it up) in Manhattan yesterday, and there was a young woman trying to get a shot as a walk-in. Similar story to yours–the pharmacist explained that they didn’t have enough shots to take walk-ins and she had to find a slot online if she could.
They gave me a new vaccine card, since the old one was filled up. Eventually they’re going to have to come up with a better system.
gwangung
Goddamit. Scheduled an appointment, and then was refused because Kaiser won’t pay for it. And Kaiser won’t even consider scheduling appointments until early October.
And here I am, with increased contact with the public because I’m teaching….GHAH.
KrackenJack
Pretty certain KrakenJill and I had COVID in late Aug. We were traveling with two other families. Too late to get Paxlovid by the time we got back. Took a two at home tests that were negative, but another person in the group works in a hospital and tested positive. The tests aren’t free anymore, so having to test 3 or 4 times is suboptimal. Assuming that it was COVID, I’m planning to wait a few months for the new vax.
StringOnAStick
Got flu and pneumonia vaccines yesterday, they won’t open up any online appointments until they have the Covid vaccine in their hands; the nice young pharmacist said maybe Thursday.
Lobo
5th Circuit strikes again : Ivermectin. FDA don’t play doctor. Physicians and patients should decide. — Women’s health. Legislatures play doctor all you want.
NoOneOfConsequence
@Scout211: More importantly, no one is *asking* for the vaccine card. It was only important when there was a reason to show proof of vaccination.
Even if a new pandemic started tomorrow, and it was “just” another Covid-19 variant, it would be a long, long time before vaccination cards could be useful in the US. There are too many people who’d rather see another couple-three million die, so long as it owns the libs.
Did you know the SCOTUS ruled that churches must have the right to have large gatherings, even if those large gatherings could spread a deadly disease? Yeah. Think about how stupid you have to be, to think that the Covid-19 pandemic could neither worsen, nor be followed by a far more deadly pandemic, while weakening rules, ensuring a lot more of your co-religionists would die stupidly and uselessly, if and when.
I’m sorry – I’m ranting a bit. My point is, your vaccination card had a purpose, and a good and noble one for a while, but, due to deliberate disinformation campaigns, all aimed at keeping TFG in office by allowing more Americans to die, we’ll never have the conditions in which a vaccination card *could* be good, not for the foreseeable future.
Um. And now I’m imagining some friendly person who was just asking a kindly-spoken question, feeling like their head got bitten off. Sorry if that happened.
Random note: I’m glad *someone* has noticed the me/CFS connection to Covid-19. You know the scary thing about me/CFS? If you have it at an early enough age, you have no way of knowing you have it.
CFS is usually spotted because someone acquires it, and notices things don’t “bounce back” the way they should.
If you had CFS from childhood, you’d never have that experience. I was in my late 20s before figuring out _something_ was wrong. It took more than two more decades to figure out the parameters of what was wrong. It was like the old bit about “we don’t know who discovered water, but it probably wasn’t a fish.” You can’t notice something that’s omnipresent.
(And yes, just like the ‘boil-a-frog” myth, lots of fish know plenty about the water – it’s that thing that ends if you go far enough up. Just like with the frog, the concept – “you don’t notice what’s all around you” – is what matters. It’s especially true when your brain is hampered by overwhelming fatigue.)
glc
@Bunter: Insurance legally obliged to pay for it, at this time.
(Uninsured is a more complicated situation. There are resources, but I haven’t followed the details. And that may well be evolving.)
Scout211
Good news! Spread the word. Link
currawong
I have been consistently amazed that for the last 2 years, an industry hasn’t sprung up to advice on and install clean air systems in in businesses and hospitality venues.
I was fortunate that I retired in 2021 and had been mostly working from home since the start of the pandemic. However, I would have been much happier to return to the office if I had known that the air conditioning/heathing system had been upgraded to filter and prevent the spread of COVID.
I was in Canada a couple of months ago and made a point of visiting the Apricot Tree Cafe in Mississauga, one of the few places I know that has installed HEPA fiters throughout. Why more haven’t followed suit is a mystery.
Matt McIrvin
@glc: Except that David Anderson’s earlier thread was full of cases in which insurance refused to pay for it, for one bullshit reason or another, so this can’t be the whole story.