Corona Virus

[WalshFan88]

Hi UTW and Austin - how are you both doing ? Hope all is well.

I have 8 family members who were vaccinated(and 5 who were boosted) who caught the Omicron Covid Virus. They all became sick at Christmas and early January 2022. All have recovered except a BIL who is having long term memory problems. I continue to wear a mask everywhere and received my second booster in early April. Something like 80% of people here in New Jersey have received the vaccine. However, far less have received booster shots. When out and about, I noticed a lot of people still wearing masks, but more people are not wearing them any more. Everyone is Covid weary but this virus is not going away.

Sorry to hear that, NKIT.

Around here and for what the majority of what I hear on the news - breakthrough infections are not very common. But I hear this story and UtW and it does surprise me. No one I know that has been vaccinated let alone boosted has caught COVID, and a couple of those people are quite social now or in public eating or shopping or going to shows.

I still think the number of vax'd people not getting it is higher than those getting it, but I do realize that they are happening with Omicron. Luckily the CDC confirms my hypothesis that while they are happening, it's so much more often in the unvax'd crowd. I think having 0 breakthrough infections is impossible because not everyone got the initial vaccine so herd immunity was impossible. The crazy naysayers delaying it meant that the virus would in time replicate and change some and make it hard to protect.

[Glennsallnighter]

Glad to see everyone is ok. Corona virus has pretty much spent itself out here in Ireland. Apparently we are one of the most vaccinated counties in the world. A few people are still wearing masks but they are pretty optional at this stage. Daily cases are down to hundreds and slipping lower.

I suppose Corona virus and covid illness will eventually embed in the population just like Mumps or measles etc. Lets hope however its on the wane for good now.

[WalshFan88]

Glad to see everyone is ok. Corona virus has pretty much spent itself out here in Ireland. Apparently we are one of the most vaccinated counties in the world. A few people are still wearing masks but they are pretty optional at this stage. Daily cases are down to hundreds and slipping lower.

I suppose Corona virus and covid illness will eventually embed in the population just like Mumps or measles etc. Lets hope however its on the wane for good now.

Agree completely GA!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I would like to think that's the case here, GA. However, I fear it may not be. The science seems to indicate that we may have another major surge in the summer or early fall. Here in the U.S., we still have less than 70% of the population fully vaxed and even a lot less boosted. We just recently surpassed over one million COVID deaths. It is heartbreaking to think how many of those could have been saved with a vaccination.

[WalshFan88]

Agree completely, Dreamer.

I got my 2nd booster. My first booster was a third full dose of Moderna and this time was the half dose of Moderna. Very little side effects other than some low grade nausea and fatigue. Can't wait to get another. I feel much safer!

[Glennsallnighter]

I would like to think that's the case here, GA. However, I fear it may not be. The science seems to indicate that we may have another major surge in the summer or early fall. Here in the U.S., we still have less than 70% of the population fully vaxed and even a lot less boosted. We just recently surpassed over one million COVID deaths. It is heartbreaking to think how many of those could have been saved with a vaccination.

And yet the USA require visitors from countries such as Ireland with a much higher vaccination status to show proof!!

[WalshFan88]

I'm fairly confident there will be a BA.5 Omicron specific booster/vaccine out later this year, probably wintertime. I just got done here recently with my 4th dose of Moderna. I'll be getting this new booster though because BA.5 is the primary subtype variant infecting people here in the US right now. It's definitely far milder than other variants, but more transmissible and cold-like. It's still a risk though if you are compromised that you could end up very ill with it but fortunately most will avoid the ventilator with this BA.5 virus.

[WalshFan88]

Glad to see this in process as I was hoping. This will certainly cut down on these rarer breakthrough cases as well as offer new protection for people just getting their vaccines.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/23/healt...ion/index.html

I'm looking forward to being able to take mine. Mine have kept me safe and sound and I've been slowly getting back to normal and am more willing to go in public. I still mask up with a KN95 but I'm willing to go to stores, eat out, and visit people again. It felt so foreign to me the first time I ate in a restaurant earlier this year after doing curbside and drive thrus for two years! I'm glad I can feel safe doing that again but if the tides turn with a variant more like the old ones where hospitalization is more likely and it's a different enough strain that makes me uneasy about protection I will revert back to staying home whenever possible. I'm going to my first post-COVID concert on September 6th. The one redeeming thing about Omicron is that while it is sadly easier to catch, it was more milder and flu like and less deadly than the Delta variant and the original virus. It also helps us reach herd immunity and make it an endemic. CDC has now relaxed some of their guidelines based on where we are right now, which is a positive sign indeed.

[WalshFan88]

Well I got my new bivalent Moderna booster and I'm already feeling better and more protected. No side effects other than some mild fatigue the next day. It's really so easy.

It covers the latest Omicron variants and should reduce the infrequent breakthrough infections down to almost nothing. I hope we continue to get updated boosters as the year goes on but at the same time hopefully there won't be any more new variants as we get closer to herd immunity. Hopefully everyone goes and gets this booster but there will always be the deniers and the naysayers who make it bad for everyone. I think at this point I'm just so fed up with a certain part of society I just shake my head anymore.

That said, right now there is a triple whammy of Influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 all at once this winter. I also got my flu shot for the year and also finished my pnemonia shot series. I hope that sometime soon there will be a shot for the RSV virus - that is a glaring omission in the vaccine picture for communicable respiratory diseases. Especially for kids or immunocompromised adults. I think it will come eventually. Messenger RNA opens up a lot of possibilties for new vaccine technology and I have high hopes for that.

I'm personally more comfortable with some social events or concerts and I'm still ready at any second to revert back to my hermit crab 2020 status but I'm feeling in a better spot to start living life again and go into a restaurant or go to a show. I feel like also with Omicron being a milder condition has made me feel like I'm not playing with fire.

[WalshFan88]

Well unfortunately my parents and I have all come down with COVID. We are all starting Paxlovid and will be watching to see if we need to go to the hospital.

Hopefully the boosters do what they normally do and keep you from being very ill. I have no doubt if we didn't have them we'd be a lot sicker. So far it's like the flu. Worse than a cold but we aren't to the level of what it was back in the original and Delta days where you rolled the dice whether or not you'd need the hospital. Still, we made the group decision to do the Paxlovid and started it today. We all got sick on Monday and yesterday they called it in for us. You have to start it in the morning so we waited until today to start it. I'm hoping that with it being Omicron and having been 5x vaxxed I won't have any trouble long-term. It's definitely very scary but I also don't feel in danger yet.