I thought I would start a new one since it's been awhile since the old one had replies.
Older threads:
Coronavirus - Thread #3 (Posts from November 20th, 2020 - April 15th, 2021):
https://canetalk.com/2020/11/1605909048.shtml
Coronavirus - Thread #2 (Posts from March 29th, 2020 - November 20th, 2020):
https://canetalk.com/2020/03/1585516230.shtml
Coronavirus - Thread #1 (Posts from February 29th, 2020 - March 29th, 2020):
https://canetalk.com/2020/02/1582963243.shtml
Booster shots for the Pfizer vaccine were approved overnight for some Americans after 6 months from their second dose. Those 65 years of age and older, residents of long term care facilities, people 50 to 64 with underlying medical conditions and those in the 18 to 64 age group that have jobs that put them at risk of infection can get the booster. That includes health care workers, though I don't know all the people that last part covers. Immunocompromised people have been able to get it already.
This applies to the Pfizer vaccine. Guidance on the Moderna and J&J vaccines will come at a later date. (though for the immunocompromised, a Moderna booster can be received too based on previous guidance) But for everyone else in regards to those in the U.S., boosters are not available yet for those vaccines.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/24/health/cdc-booster-recommendation-walensky/index.html
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/573707-cdc-panel-authorizes-covid-19-vaccine-boosters
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday endorsed booster shots for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans, opening a major new phase in the U.S vaccination drive against COVID-19.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on a series of recommendations from a panel of advisers late Thursday.
The advisers said boosters should be offered to people 65 and older, nursing home residents and those ages 50 to 64 who have risky underlying health problems. The extra dose would be given once they are at least six months past their last Pfizer shot.
However, Walensky decided to make one recommendation that the panel had rejected.
The panel on Thursday voted against saying that people can get a booster if they are ages 18 to 64 years and are health-care workers or have another job that puts them at increased risk of being exposed to the virus.
But Walensky disagreed and put that recommendation back in, noting that such a move aligns with an FDA booster authorization decision earlier this week. The category she included covers people who live in institutional settings that increase their risk of exposure, such as prisons or homeless shelters, as well as health care workers."
Since it was just approved overnight, things aren't updated yet:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
But as soon as sites are updated, people should start booking appointments if they qualify.
https://www.vaccines.gov/
https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine
https://www.walgreens.com/pharmacy/immunization/immunization_index.jsp
https://www.walmart.com/cp/flu-shots-immunizations/1228302
My dad is going to call Walgreens in a few hours once they open and see if they are giving them yet.
And be sure to get the flu vaccine too! I got my flu vaccine about a week ago. We don't want to see hospitals even more filled up over the fall and winter months with not only coronavirus patients, but also from those suffering from flu complications. With the coronavirus and hospitalizations from other issues, some hospitals are already full and some people are already dying due to either there not being enough healthcare workers or equipment to treat the sick. Last year's flu season was historically low.
From the CDC 2020-2021 Flu Season Summary:
"What are possible explanations for the unusually low flu activity?
COVID-19 mitigation measures such as wearing face masks, staying home, hand washing, school closures, reduced travel, increased ventilation of indoor spaces, and physical distancing, likely contributed to the decline in 2020-2021 flu incidence, hospitalizations and deaths. Influenza vaccination may also contributed to reduced flu illness during the 2020-2021 season. Flu vaccine effectiveness estimates for 2020-2021 are not available, but a record number of influenza vaccine doses (193.8 million doses) were distributed in the U.S. during 2020-2021."
From:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/season/faq-flu-season-2020-2021.htm
Things aren't closed down this flu season, a lot of people aren't wearing masks and/or people aren't social distancing, so we will see a lot more flu cases this year and even greater strain will be put on hospitals. If people don't get a booster shot, we will also see more vaccinated people get the coronavirus too as the effectiveness of the vaccines drops some over time. Vaccines greatly reduce your chances of being hospitalized, but over time the effectiveness for that too decreases without a booster.
Everyone do your part and get vaccinated!
We're going to have to get used to getting vaccinated frequently. Since so many people haven't been vaccinated yet, some not getting it due to paying attention to the wrong people, younger kids not being eligible yet, and many others in the world because they don't have access to the vaccine, the coronavirus isn't going anywhere. Unfortunately I think the coming years and perhaps decades are going to look a lot like this, with it sometimes being better or worse depending on variants. Maybe sometime in the next few years it won't be considered a pandemic, but I don't know. Hopefully as we get vaccinated often, more and more people will get vaccinated for the first time as they see others getting the vaccine and having little side effects from it.
Below quotes from this article:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/20/health/us-covid-deaths-surpass-1918-pandemic/index.html
"Despite all the scientific and medical advances of the past 103 years, the Covid-19 pandemic has now killed more Americans than the 1918 flu pandemic did.
More than 675,000 people in the United States have died from Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins University. That surpasses the estimated US death toll from the deadliest pandemic of the 20th century."
"It's possible the viruses can spread long after the pandemic: The World Health Organization defines a pandemic as the 'worldwide spread' of a new disease.
But there's no precise measurement for when a pandemic is over.
While the CDC said the 1918 pandemic happened in three waves, from the spring of 1918 to the summer of 1919, the virus kept circulating seasonally for 38 years."
There are other estimates for the U.S. death toll from the 1918 pandemic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu
I don't know how our current death toll compares. I don't know how excess deaths were counted then and what the excess deaths are now.
How the coronavirus will spread over the coming years, and decades, is uncertain. No one knows. For a time during the summer, briefly, it wasn't as bad. But people let there guard down. Maybe it will be worse in the fall and winter, like the flu, but still continue to be around in a lesser way during the warmer months when people are outside more with warmer weather. We don't know what variants will exist over time and how the vaccines will hold up. Whether they might need to change the vaccines some.
I still say we might need two doses of vaccine for everyone in the world each year, and for people to actually get them. That's not going to happen. We don't manufacture that amount, not everyone wants it, and we probably don't have the mechanisms in place to deliver that kind of quantity to the world. Maybe boosters might provide protection for a bit longer than 6 months, we don't know yet.
We'll just have to continue to get vaccinated, wear masks and think about how we interact with people. At times some people might feel safer doing things if virus activity is lower or a particular variant isn't as bad at some point in the future. When hospitals are near capacity, or at capacity, it isn't the time for a lot of people gathering together, especially indoors.
I'll be wearing a mask anytime I have to go out and I expect that will not change in the coming years. Things are just going to be different from now on.<script async src="/scripts/social_media.js"></script> |