Then this on top of wcvb article states at least 73% of Americans are immune to the omicron variant and that may increase to 80% by March
Immune is a word I am not a fan of. Having a mild case is not the same as immune. With even the mildest case, long covid and now heart conditions can follow. Also, I’m not finding any respected medical folks stating that you cannot have omicron more than once.
In my mind I compare this to weather misinformation. With weather, we have easily accessible, well trained and respected meteorologists. If a person chooses to listen to media over weather, then that is the persons fault.
In this case we do not have any easily accessible health experts and the ones who are in the forefront often contradict themselves or each other. So if a person listens only to media, that becomes our fault.
IDK. Maybe I’m wrong. I’m just tired of it.
Vicki, you point to the issues with “immunity.” Prior to previous waves – certainly Delta and Omicron BA.1 (first Omicron) – many experts and the media suggested many in the U.S. would be immune. Turned out to be false.
Could be true now, as the first Omicron did affect a large swath of the U.S., and supposedly they are now immune. But, are they? Reinfections are common, so it’s not necessarily the case that those who got Omicron #1 will now be immune to the sub-variant. And, how long does natural and/or vaccine immunity last? Not long with the coronavirus, as we’ve learned.
BA.2 is a watcher at this point. I haven’t hoisted a warning sign yet, because it’s not yet omnipresent. But, it’s 11% of cases in Canada and dominant in the Netherlands, Denmark, and soon, Germany.
This morning I received a message from my health care provider (Brigham) that according to the new guidelines, a booster is recommended 3 months after the previous one.
I made an appointment to get a booster (#4) for next Tuesday (2/22).
The previous recommendations were for every 6 months. Too many changes.
This would mean I’m due for another booster, too.
I don’t think boosting every 3 months is sustainable.
I believe the 3 months is for the elderly and other compromised people, not so much young and relatively healthy. Still, 3 months seem a bit too soon, especially since the medical community lately has us coming out of the pandemic somewhat, even to the point of unmasking soon.
The previous recommendation was 6 months, in which case I was planning on making an appointment for March anyway. Since next Tuesday was available, I figured I might as well take it.
Joshua, any thoughts as to the sudden change? This doesn’t say much for the “strength” of these boosters imo.
I had a virtual meet and greet with my new pcp. He said he has not received any notification of another booster. This surprises me as he is a member of partners. I also get regular updates from Brigham.
Is it your pcp or Brigham sending you notices?
I received a message from mgh/Brigham today stating there is a significant blood shortage. Also….our hospitals are a mess and we have removed masks.
Philip, I have not heard of a blanket policy of boosting every 3 months. I might have overlooked it, though. I do believe that certain immunocompromised folks should get boosters every 3 months.
I ansolutely agree that a pcp knows best. I’m curious to know if I should be included but can’t find anything
Joshua, do you know if a fourth is the same dose as the third?
I believe it is.
By the way, with BA.2 the Danes – they sequence much more than we do; probably 100 times as much – have discovered a sub-variant of BA.2 (close sibling), which has a numerical name H87Y. They believe that this sub-variant is more virulent and more transmissible than BA.1 and BA.2. It appears to be competing against its sister BA.2. How well it does so remains to be seen.
I must say that several reports stood out today, which the CDC and others must pay attention to:
1. Canada- sequences much more than we do – now estimate that 11% of infections are BA.2; a quadrupling in less than 3 weeks. Keep an eye on Canada.
2. The H87Y news from Denmark, and also the WHO’s concern about BA.2 (WHO has generally not been alarmist, often waiting for long periods of time before declaring a so-called variant a concern; they haven’t yet done so with BA.2 but are close to – it may get its own Greek letter).
3. A leveling off of the decline in cases in the U.S. at still quite elevated levels. We should still be in “exponential decay” as they call it. We were until, say, 5-7 days ago. In many areas of the country, the decline has recently become quite flat (Massachusetts and New York, for example).
None of this is reason for despair. But, all of it must be taken into account by public health officials.
The Covid-19 notification I received this morning was from the Brigham itself. When I receive my booster next Tuesday it will have been 5 months. My last one was in September.
Thanks, Philip. I think five months makes sense
C-19 for 2-19 is ready.
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Thanks TK.
This is the link I posted last night. I may well be reading incorrectly, but it seems to say findings are before peer review. Even if untrue, there is definitely some accurate info here. There is also a fair amount of speculation.
https://whdh.com/news/as-ba-2-subvariant-of-omicron-rises-lab-studies-point-to-signs-of-severity/?fbclid=IwAR1DljJvah6dG1BYNJXec_CGedrd53q_n5K4TKKJ2Q-vAP1F-9tFXFlNuaE
Then this on top of wcvb article states at least 73% of Americans are immune to the omicron variant and that may increase to 80% by March
Immune is a word I am not a fan of. Having a mild case is not the same as immune. With even the mildest case, long covid and now heart conditions can follow. Also, I’m not finding any respected medical folks stating that you cannot have omicron more than once.
My beef is that our medical experts are allowing media to take the lead. And media will never, ever get it right. This absolutely must IMO come clearly from our medical folks. It really is no wonder that many do not trust the science
https://www.wcvb.com/article/an-estimated-73-of-americans-are-now-immune-to-the-omicron-variant-is-that-enough/39117033?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&fbclid=IwAR3UWC3TUsDMb16xYNnh-apQvbgZH3LJZct0G5p1zEtdEKsDspB6qOphBn8
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/can-you-get-omicron-twice-heres-what-boston-doctors-say/2633441/
In my mind I compare this to weather misinformation. With weather, we have easily accessible, well trained and respected meteorologists. If a person chooses to listen to media over weather, then that is the persons fault.
In this case we do not have any easily accessible health experts and the ones who are in the forefront often contradict themselves or each other. So if a person listens only to media, that becomes our fault.
IDK. Maybe I’m wrong. I’m just tired of it.
Vicki, you point to the issues with “immunity.” Prior to previous waves – certainly Delta and Omicron BA.1 (first Omicron) – many experts and the media suggested many in the U.S. would be immune. Turned out to be false.
Could be true now, as the first Omicron did affect a large swath of the U.S., and supposedly they are now immune. But, are they? Reinfections are common, so it’s not necessarily the case that those who got Omicron #1 will now be immune to the sub-variant. And, how long does natural and/or vaccine immunity last? Not long with the coronavirus, as we’ve learned.
BA.2 is a watcher at this point. I haven’t hoisted a warning sign yet, because it’s not yet omnipresent. But, it’s 11% of cases in Canada and dominant in the Netherlands, Denmark, and soon, Germany.
This morning I received a message from my health care provider (Brigham) that according to the new guidelines, a booster is recommended 3 months after the previous one.
I made an appointment to get a booster (#4) for next Tuesday (2/22).
The previous recommendations were for every 6 months. Too many changes.
This would mean I’m due for another booster, too.
I don’t think boosting every 3 months is sustainable.
I believe the 3 months is for the elderly and other compromised people, not so much young and relatively healthy. Still, 3 months seem a bit too soon, especially since the medical community lately has us coming out of the pandemic somewhat, even to the point of unmasking soon.
The previous recommendation was 6 months, in which case I was planning on making an appointment for March anyway. Since next Tuesday was available, I figured I might as well take it.
Joshua, any thoughts as to the sudden change? This doesn’t say much for the “strength” of these boosters imo.
I had a virtual meet and greet with my new pcp. He said he has not received any notification of another booster. This surprises me as he is a member of partners. I also get regular updates from Brigham.
Is it your pcp or Brigham sending you notices?
I received a message from mgh/Brigham today stating there is a significant blood shortage. Also….our hospitals are a mess and we have removed masks.
https://twitter.com/danielgoyal/status/1494420844537393160?s=21
Philip, I have not heard of a blanket policy of boosting every 3 months. I might have overlooked it, though. I do believe that certain immunocompromised folks should get boosters every 3 months.
I ansolutely agree that a pcp knows best. I’m curious to know if I should be included but can’t find anything
Joshua, do you know if a fourth is the same dose as the third?
I believe it is.
By the way, with BA.2 the Danes – they sequence much more than we do; probably 100 times as much – have discovered a sub-variant of BA.2 (close sibling), which has a numerical name H87Y. They believe that this sub-variant is more virulent and more transmissible than BA.1 and BA.2. It appears to be competing against its sister BA.2. How well it does so remains to be seen.
I must say that several reports stood out today, which the CDC and others must pay attention to:
1. Canada- sequences much more than we do – now estimate that 11% of infections are BA.2; a quadrupling in less than 3 weeks. Keep an eye on Canada.
2. The H87Y news from Denmark, and also the WHO’s concern about BA.2 (WHO has generally not been alarmist, often waiting for long periods of time before declaring a so-called variant a concern; they haven’t yet done so with BA.2 but are close to – it may get its own Greek letter).
3. A leveling off of the decline in cases in the U.S. at still quite elevated levels. We should still be in “exponential decay” as they call it. We were until, say, 5-7 days ago. In many areas of the country, the decline has recently become quite flat (Massachusetts and New York, for example).
None of this is reason for despair. But, all of it must be taken into account by public health officials.
The Covid-19 notification I received this morning was from the Brigham itself. When I receive my booster next Tuesday it will have been 5 months. My last one was in September.
Thanks, Philip. I think five months makes sense
C-19 for 2-19 is ready.