Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 4, 2023

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 4, 2023

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Fun little animation — worth sharing!

(h/t Scout211 for the YouTube version)


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After Pfizer and Moderna hiked the prices of their Covid-19 vaccines this year, the federal government will now pay nearly three times more than it did previously for each dose. And it’s paying more than countries that did far less to support vaccine development…

… [T]the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is paying $81.61 for the Moderna booster this year, and $85.10 for the Pfizer shot — which is around triple the amount the federal government paid for each shot last year. Moderna charged the government $26.36 per booster dose last year, and Pfizer charged $30.48.

The change is partly because the federal government ran out of money to continue to buy the vaccines in bulk to distribute across the country, so the vast majority of vaccine purchases are instead flowing through normal channels and will be paid for by a variety of different insurance plans this year, including Medicare and Medicaid…

The CDC’s prices this year are significantly discounted from the price the companies are charging private insurers, however, which are $115 for the Pfizer vaccine and $128 for Moderna.

The United States is also set to pay a much higher price than is being considered in Europe for the same Moderna product.

European Union officials are in talks to potentially buy Moderna doses for around 25 euros apiece, the equivalent of around $26.30, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Though the price is not final, the potential amount is roughly one-third of what the United States is paying…

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Single-payer health systems make it easier for anyone to access life-saving care at healthcare facilities, pharmacies, or community centers.

We got a taste of a single-payer system during the COVID-19 public health emergency, when the government paid for vaccines and medications to fight the unprecedented pandemic. But now, this system is no longer available. The CDC recently rolled out the new 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine for children and adults. Yet, without the single-payer system, those who are insured are required to use insurance to pay for the vaccine. As with most preventive care, the vaccine should be covered in full by insurance, but many people are experiencing denials of coverage. Amid all the confusion, the uninsured may not be aware that the government is providing vaccines for them at no cost…

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COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 4, 2023

Reader Interactions

52Comments

  1. 1.

    Matt McIrvin

    There seems to be a new COVID spike happening on the South Shore in the Boston area. We were gradually coming off the late-summer wave but this is bigger. Not too surprising really, now that school is back in.

  2. 2.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY:

    55 new cases on 09/25/23.
    59 new cases on 09/26/23.
    146 new cases on 09/27/23.
    112 new cases on 09/28/23.
    117 new cases on 09/29/23.
    83 new cases on 09/30/23.
    42 new cases on 10/01/23.

    Deaths now at 2329, up 9 from last week.

    These numbers are depressing. I haven’t had time to see about getting all the fall vaccinations yet, either.

  4. 4.

    lowtechcyclist

    The people who are worried that today’s emergency test alert will turn them into zombies?

    They don’t have a thing to worry about. They’re already there.

  5. 5.

    MattF

    Flu shot Thursday, Moderna shot Saturday, both at local walkable CVS. Soreness at arm(s) has gone away. RSV shot still doesn’t appear to be available at any walkable pharmacy.

  7. 7.

    New Deal democrat

    Biobot’s latest update yesterday indicated that the 25% decline in wastewater particles since the recent peak 2 weeks ago (which was 4x higher than the summer trough) has stopped. The Northeast increased to its highest level yet in this outbreak, while the other 3 Census regions essentially were flat.

    Per the CDC, hospitalizations, which had increased about 3.5x from their trough to 21,000, have also declined in the past two weeks to 19,000. Deaths as of the last fully reported week, September 2, were still rising at 1,088. The next week already shows a further increase to 1,132 even though not all reports are in. Deaths probably peaked somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 in the past week, although we won’t know that for another month.

    The CDC’s last variant update last Friday shows another “alphabet soup” of new and old variants, so numerous I won’t try to name them. All are BA-2 descendants, and a review of the press does not indicate any have been particularly virulent (at least, not so far). For what it’s worth, the leader of the pack is called EG.5, responsible for 30% of all US infections. XBB, which first caused over 50% of all US infections way back in late January, is still causing 33% of them.

    My expectation is that the current wave will wane until Thanksgiving, although the halt in the decline in the past week makes me wonder if there will be only a shallow decline.

    Anecdotally, I am seeing increasing numbers of people returning to mask-wearing in indoor public spaces, although I would estimate the share as only 15% of people, mainly older.

  8. 8.

    Anne Laurie

    @lowtechcyclist:The people who are worried that today’s emergency test alert will turn them into zombies?

    They don’t have a thing to worry about. They’re already there.

    No, no — they’re afraid the ‘Marburg test signal’ will turn us vaxxed sheeple into zombies — as if they didn’t call us that already!

    Can’t wait to see what new date for The Vaxx-pocalypse they’ll invent after Wednesday’s emergency-signal test fails to produce the alarming results they’re dreaming of…

  10. 10.

    Suzanne

    My left collarbone is still sore from a swollen lymph node due to Covid shot on Saturday afternoon.

    Getting the Covid shots for the kids is still a PITA. I do t have vaccine fatigue, but I have annoyance fatigue.

  11. 11.

    Geo Wilcox

    I called our local hospital to ask if their outpatient center had Covid vaccines. They do not but all the local pharmacies do. I asked the center receptionist what was up with that and she had no answer. Guess once hubby case of Covid (caught while visiting his family in Reno) works its way on I will get it. I have been testing daily and so far am not infected. I’d like to keep it that way so masks in the common areas of the house and he can go mask free in his basement rooms while I do so on the second floor. Sort of glad we did not down size the house now…

  12. 12.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Anne Laurie:

    No, no — they’re afraid the ‘Marburg test signal’ will turn us vaxxed sheeple into zombies — as if they didn’t call us that already!

    And we’d come and eat their brainz! Don’t ask me why that scares them, it’s not like they’re using their brains as it is…

  16. 16.

    MazeDancer

    The sliding bar chart with the number of people who will/won’t get the vaccine broken down by party is depressing.

    The GOP is determined to kill people, even if it has to be their own.

  17. 17.

    Matt McIrvin

    @kalakal: I’m kind of surprised the Florida state government hasn’t moved to limit availability given that it is openly antivax at this point.

    But we’ve seen this pattern before– people from blue cities going to red areas to get the vaccine because supply exceeds demand there.

  18. 18.

    Jeffery

    Got the Covid vaccine yesterday. There were six people waiting for various vaccines. Now I have had Flu, RSV and Covid shots.

  21. 21.

    Matt McIrvin

    …When I see a huge spike in deaths that looks like that Australian one, in my experience, it’s usually because some kind of reporting backlog got cleared or diagnostic criteria changed.

  25. 25.

    Ken

    @Matt McIrvin: The spike’s narrowness looks like what you get when someone mistypes “1000” for “100”, but I’d think they would have found something like that relatively quickly. I’ll go with your explanation, especially since it falls near end-of-quarter.

  26. 26.

    Hoodie

    Got my updated Covid jab yesterday. Not a lot of appointments available short term, but looks like there’s plenty available more than one week out. Some pretty intense body aches kept me awake last night, feel kind of hungover today. This one was more like the Shingrex vaccine in terms of after effects, not flu like reactions I had with prior Covid jabs.  One thing I noticed driving from coastal Georgia to NC last week is that state health departments – even in backassword SC – were promoting the vaccine on highway billboards, right next to the “JESUS SAVE MY SOUL” and anti Biden billboards.

  28. 28.

    Gvg

    Got Covid vax Saturday here in Florida. Had some insurance issues. Wanted Moderna as had had Phizer last 2 times and thought it would be good to vary. Discovered my insurance insists on CVS which is out of Moderna in my area so had to settle for Phizer. Appointments available but not walk-in. Mothers friend had to drive quite a ways in her area to get an appointment in a red area of Florida near the Villages though. Pharmacist’s opinion is that Phizer is better at mass production than Moderna but it’s just a guess. CVS takes what it can get he said.

    My first appointment was a refusal because of the insurance not being approved and I had gotten up early Saturday and driven a ways to go to a Moderna slot at Walgreens. Oh yes, had an unusable website issue with another Moderna source across the street, but gave up. I am sure the insurance issue would have cancelled that one too though. I imagine I could have gone to my doctor but that would be time off from work.

    Follow up, much sorer arm than past and tired. Monday afternoon headache exhaustion took half day off, but I think that has to do with last 2 months working flat out and just wearing out. Bosses gave me the rest of week off. Trying to rest up.

    will do flu in a week or 2.

  30. 30.

    geg6

    I am noticing an increase in mask use locally, so some of us are taking precautions here in northern Appalachia. As for me, my John and I got the double jabs last Friday, COVID boosters and flu. Since I’d never had even a slightly sore arm after a flu shot and have had a very, very sore arm after every COVID shot, I decided to get one in each arm with the flu shot in the right arm, which is the one I use most. And, of course, I could hardly move either arm a couple of hours later. Thankfully, the flu arm felt fine the next day and the COVID arm remained sore until Monday. Regardless, I’m glad to have gotten them.

  31. 31.

    geg6

    @geg6: ​
     
    And I will add that I had to schedule about 4 days out to get an appointment at the most convenient place, the local CVS, which wasn’t a problem. Also no difficulties with my insurance, John’s Medicare or any request for payment. I noticed a sign in the pharmacy area saying that there would be no charge for either one, although we did, of course, provide our insurance/Medicare information.

  32. 32.

    Cameron

    @kalakal: It was different here in S. Bradenton where I live – there was a line ahead of me at the Publix waiting for a hit, and that was only a few days after the booster had been approved.

  33. 33.

    O. Felix Culpa

    I got the vaccination quadrifecta over the last two weeks: first, flu and RSV at Costco, then COVID (Moderna) and pneumonia at Walgreen’s. It was almost impossible to find an available COVID vax appointment on the state’s health website and Costco wasn’t sure when they’d get a supply, so I reluctantly turned to Walgreen’s. Was able to get a same-day appointment at one at the opposite end of the city, but I gratefully took it. Thankfully, no insurance issues or demands for payment either time.

    ETA: No reaction to the first set of vaccinations; sore arm and next-day fatigue/achiness after the second. But not terrible and only lasted one day.

  34. 34.

    Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    Well, I got COVID in September. I was in the hospital for emergency abdominal surgery at the end of August and that worked out ok, but apparently at the end of my 10 day stay i got infected with COVID and brought it home. After I was home 6 days I noticed I had no sense of smell (Or taste other than sweet, salty, etc.) which I noticed when i tried to smee a jasmine flower in the pot by our back door and got NO AROMA at all! My only other symptom was a bad runny nose and that may have been mostly my ragweed allergy as pollen was very high at the time or a combo virus+allergy symptom.  After about 2 weeks I tested negative and have regained some of my sense of small.  I had infected Mrs. S. (we first tested positive on the same day and probably to late for paxlovid) and she had simillar symptoms. She is felling better, but still testing positive.  We are fully vaxxed and had gotten this far with no COVID. Now I need to figure out how long we need to wait before getting a booster. The CDC says “people who previously had COVID-19 should receive a booster within three months after infection for the best protection.” and because we don’t know which strain we were infected with that seems to make some sense.

  35. 35.

    Eunicecycle

    My husband and I both have Covid so I decided to go to the CDC website to see what the current guidelines are for quaratining. OMG I consider myself fairly intelligent but the guidelines are so confusing. I think we’ll just stay home for 10 days and hopefully will be testing negative by then.

  36. 36.

    dmsilev

    Kaiser Permanente really shit the bed on vaccine availability. Right now, appointments are being made for …middle of November. And since Kaiser in-houses everything possible, going to a random CVS or whatever is essentially “out of network, pay out of pocket, argue with Kaiser about reimbursement”.

    Thankfully my employer is doing an on-campus vaccination clinic next week, COVID and flu, so I’ll do that.

  37. 37.

    Cameron

    @O. Felix Culpa: Yeah, 2023 has been my Year of the Needle.  First, shingles – pneumonia duo, then flu-RSV, then COVID.  I’d heard bad things about shingles and RSV reactions, but the COVID was the only one that bothered me.  Thankful I live in Suburban Olde Fart Land, ’cause I can get shots at Publix, Walgreen’s, CVS inside Target, and free-standing CVS all within a 10-minute walk.

  39. 39.

    RaflW

    I remain completely flabbergasted that hospitals don’t require face masks on providers and patients routinely. Yeah, wearing them kinda sucks. But nurses and doctors are in people’s faces and air spaces as an obvious matter of course.

    Neither nurse administering my flu & covid shots a couple weeks apart wore masks. Certainly in the latter’s case, she was seeing probably 30 or more people a day in a small room, in close quarters, 5 days a week at a grocery store that did zero health screening. Even for the flu shot at the clinic, it’s just a two message “are you feeling sick today” sort of screening.

    I wore a KN95 to both, of course, because I’m into risk reduction (and we have a big trip coming. Not happy to see that Wellington, NZ news).

  41. 41.

    RaflW

    @Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!): Yeah, adding Covid to the list of post-op hospital infection risks is no fun at all.

    Take this for what its worth (2 cents, max), but if it were me, I’d wait the full three months. IIRC there are studies out there that suggest getting jabbed too soon after having Covid does very little to re-awaken the immune system.

    Though that was stuff I researched a year ago now, as I tried to sort out when to get my boost after an early-August bout of the C-crud. I went with 10 weeks, roughly, But that had to do with fitting it between holidays, and timing of an expected but ultimately busted-by-partner’s-Covid trip abroad. (I did manage to not get his ‘rona. But we isolated the moment he had a single symptom.)

  42. 42.

    terben

    @Ken: It seems to be caused by the fact that case statistics are only being released once per week, (on Friday) coupled with the release of death statistics in several states only once per month. Another change seems to be that deaths are no longer being reported directly by medical authorities, but are now derived from the normal (pre-pandemic) registration process.

    I can see that on Friday 15 September, the no. of deaths for the previous 7 days in Australia was 217, whereas one week earlier the figure was 41, and one week later, 27. This seems to coincide with the spike in the chart.

  43. 43.

    Bill Arnold

    @MazeDancer:

    The GOP is determined to kill people, even if it has to be their own.

    The GOP is killing their own voters. On the order of 200K differential R vs D kills.
    The GOP is the wet work arm of the Democrat party.

  45. 45.

    Glidwrith

    @dmsilev: Kaiser told me that the Minute clinics, which are now CVS, are in-network. I will be seriously pissed if we get charged north of $600 for the vax.

  47. 47.

    RaflW

    @Glidwrith: FWIW my jab in MN had a notation that said “U&C $195.99” which I take to mean Usual & Customary price = $195.
    I can already see the claim, and my insurer paid HyVee $142 and my responsibility is, indeed, zero. Phew.

  48. 48.

    kindness

    I have Kaiser (N. Cal) and called them yesterday asking about the new Covid 19 booster that was released 2 weeks ago.  The call nurse I spoke with said Kaiser hasn’t yet received the new release and she couldn’t tell me when they are going to get them.  I am not a happy camper.  I figure I’ll call them again in a week or 2 and just keep asking for it.

    @Glidwrith: Kaiser stopped participating in that program here in CA this last summer.  Now you have to get the shots through Kaiser itself or pay out of pocket for the whole thing without any reimburement.

  49. 49.

    Kristine

    I threw it all against the wall and got three sticks yesterday, Covid (my first Pfizer) and RSV in one arm and flu in the other. Flu arm hurt first, then waned as the Covid/RSV arm ramped up. Felt a little feverish when I went to bed.

    Thought I was through the worst until 5am or so, when I got slammed. Drenched in sweat. GI…issues. Wobbly as hell. More severe than Shingrix 2 but hoping not as long-lasting. A few hours later, I’m still wobbly but I do have an appetite. Still feeling a little feverish. So if anyone out there had a stronger reaction than 2 sore arms, you are not alone.

    I wondered if stomach flu was going around, but it’s a little early and no one here has heard about it.

    Next time I will spread out the shots.

  50. 50.

    glc

    I don’t know anything about the Novavax vaccine. Is there something else one should know about it, other than the fact that it’s been approved and the share price has gone up?

  51. 51.

    Anne Laurie

    @glc: I don’t know anything about the Novavax vaccine. Is there something else one should know about it, other than the fact that it’s been approved and the share price has gone up?

    It’s not mRNA-based, so people who have reasons — sensible or not — to avoid the Pfizer / Moderna shots can still get an effective vaccine.

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