outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

I wonder why/how I haven't gotten it yet? I should say why/how/whether, I guess, there's no way to know for sure, really, but at no point have I had characteristic symptoms.

I guess I am in a weird state where I feel like I'm not trying very hard not to get it -- I'm traveling a lot, I'm seeing people, I'm in lots of crowded rooms. But then again, I wear an N95 on the plane and when I go in a store, which I feel like almost no one else is, and I certainly eat outside when it's convenient, which it usually is this time of year. So... I'm not trying very hard not to get COVID, but maybe I'm nonetheless trying harder than the median person? I guess by "not trying hard" I mean "I'm not taking any actions that would be annoying or difficult for me."

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, July 1, 2022 10:36 AM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

Still this. I've been on so many planes, trains, and busses since then, have been in so many crowded rooms where I was the only masked person.. starting to wonder whether there's just some real variation in how immune people are and I'm on the high end. It really does seem like there are people who are much more cautious than I am who are getting it (including getting it outdoors, where I've been taking zero precautions since summer 2020.)

There's no utility in wondering very much about it. At the level of individuals there are so many variables involved that it's anybody's guess who'll get it and who won't. You're helping yourself by masking indoors, but there's a big element of luck, too.

This is me.

xpost

it's me as well. i've never taken an antibodies test, so i wouldn't be surprised to learn that i got a very mild version of it at some point

I test sometimes twice a week, so I've been in the clear. In the last month I've eaten inside restaurants and hung out in people's homes, the latter a riskier choice (every person I know who's caught it did so in tight enclosed spces like offices, apartments, and homes). I know I'm riding on Month Two of heightened second-booster immunity that will disappear soon.

2 year old and 4 year old got first dose of moderna this weekend. a bit anticlimactic after all getting covid 8 weeks ago, but p nice nonetheless. we asked if we should wait (both are presumably benefiting from some 'natural' immunity for the time being, and the 4 year old eligible for the big kid's dose in 2 months), but the doctor said go ahead because it takes a few weeks to kick in, and the kids are about to get like 8 different colds when the new school year starts, so this is one less thing to worry about.

I did read one study that..

sidebar here, good lord am I tired of hearing about medical studies

..seemed to indicate the efficacy of a vaccine booster lasts a lot longer following actual illness

yeah i think the four of us are basically immortal right now.

by the time I'll need a booster again, hoping the Moderna bivalent boosters will be available. thankful that mom and dad's boost came later than mine.

Can someone clear up the booster sitch for me? I'm supposed to be teaching in person at the end of the month, and would like a second booster because I'm slightly immunocompromised, but I'm not sure I can get one and the guidelines are somewhat confusing?

You can get one with your condition. If you can't -- which I don't see happening -- just lie. I did.

No one will check papers.

Or, you know, turn 50.

Nah. Why?

For the boosters, baby!

I'm double boosted. I'm waiting for those omicron boosters this fall.

I think that's the other thing— should I wait for that or just get another shot now?

Fwiw I definitely had one of the spring Omicron variants.

Florida down 20% in cases from the average a week ago.

hospitalizations down 2% from last week, probably going to keep dropping.

xpost really not looking forward to getting another one and having to work through flu-like symptoms during our busy period but i'm def waiting for the bivalent.

the question is, do they truly arrive in September and early or late? historically these things seem to always show up later than planned.

table, in your shoes, I'd get it. I also teach face-to-face soon. Then in four months you can get the new booster.

Oof, okay. Thanks for the tips, y'all, I haven't really been paying attention, just been staying careful.

I don’t know if these are street dates or you need to add a couple weeks for approvals

From Dr. Anthony Fauci re: timeline for bivalent BA.4/5 boosters for the fall:

"@pfizer will have it by first or second week in September and @moderna_tx will likely have it by the end of September, the beginning of October"https://t.co/UUMbnQy1gR https://t.co/NOAAqAN27j pic.twitter.com/7MY61kpzHA

— Alexander Tin (@Alexander_Tin) August 10, 2022

GIMME

Yes! It coincides with my four-month second booster anniversary.

pretty close on mine too.

my COVID study ends that month. blows my mind that it's been two years already.

Pretty cool.

Eh, I might just wait. I don't want to get two boosters in less than a month's time.

Nor should you!

Four-month interval the norm, I've read.

Yeah I got my last one start of April so the timing here couldn't be better. (If it's anything like previous rollouts we'll get offered it extremely quickly -- my age and where I work certainly helps.)

Guess I'll just wait for that one then, though it'll be about 10 months since my last booster by that point. Still not eligible for that second booster, I know I can just go get one, but I guess I'd kept thinking wider approval was just around the corner and I kept procrastinating for that.

Yeah, because I'll have had my first booster about 10 months by the time these new bivalent boosters come out, and because I certainly got BA4 or BA5 in May, I'm just going to wait—

any lingering symptoms, table?

The only one I’ve noticed is that when I am rather active, sometimes a wave of fatigue will come over me that I cannot snap out of— I don’t remember this happening so dramatically before I had Covid. For example, I had to pull over on the highway this past week because I couldn’t keep my eyes open, T had to take over for me. That would never have happened a year or so ago, and that was my main symptom when I had Covid, too.

Otherwise, all’s the same here!

jfc cdc

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/11/health/cdc-covid-guidance-update/index.html

I mean, maybe not completely wrong from a scientific basis, but hoo-boy is this going to be misused and abused by people who don't want to be even temporarily inconvenienced.

this is an appeasement move. scientifically I don't think a 'we're out of the woods' really makes sense now, I mean BA.5 seems to have peaked in the US, but substrains are showing up almost as quickly. would think we'd want to wait for the bivalent booster before removing things like test-to-stay or distancing.

these kids have grandparents, some unvaxxed, etc etc

Case rates are receding faster than hospitalisation and deaths; the US is likely seeing the seasonal summer easing now, slightly delayed this year by widespread lifting of remaining mitigation mandates before spring. No subvariants currently seem to be as much of a menace as BA.5, so hopefully outdoorsy-ish weather will keep the trend going until the typical Thanksgiving spike.

congratulations on defeating covid, everyone. mission accomplished

I guess my biggest immediate concern is that the quarantine thing is, per the other covid thread, going to give companies even more reason to refuse time off to sick and exposed employees.

I mean, these new guidelines are bullshit, but at the same time I'm surprised the CDC mentioned the six-feet thing. Does it matter how far apart we are now that we've known since summer '20 that this is an airborne/aerosolized virus?

jon:

But the guidance does keep some measures the same. It encourages testing for people with symptoms and their close contacts. It also says people who test positive should stay home for at least five days and wear a mask around others for 10 days. It also continues to recommend that people wear masks indoors in about half the country.

The new guidelines also tailor advice on isolation for people who became very sick from Covid-19. People with moderate symptoms -- such as shortness of breath -- and those who were hospitalized should stay home for at least 10 days. People with compromised immune systems should now talk to their doctor about ending their isolation after an infectio

with the six feet thing, so....the 'six feet' thing has def always been bullshit, buuuuuuuuuuuut on the other hand, as some virologists pointed out in a (heated) debate with an aerosol specialist, although people have definitely infected people from much further than six feet away indoors due to poor ventilation/etc, you also don't bear the same risk of infection if you're in a room with an infected person but a decent distance away versus being close-up.

DeWald/AJ Leonardi acolytes for a while were screaming about how COVID can stay in teh air for a while, and while it's a valid point and true and means you should mask indoors regardless, it's not as if walking through a few droplets = instant COVID, like viral load breathed in and length of exposure matter too.

so my general philosophy is not to treat 6 feet like invincibility like some, but also to try to stay further than close up next to people if I'm indoors.

sorry neanderthal, but if i'm shopping in the same store i'm going to get up to the extreme limit of your personal space, as is my god given right in this country, bless it. the time of space is over

xp - I was pleased to see that stayed the same but I remain... skeptical... that most employers are going to take the time to recognize that and not just say "see? we don't have to quarantine anymore".

Source? My supervisor who just loudly said, "we don't need to quarantine anymore" across the office as he read an article about the new guidelines.

That guy should die.

such nonsense, didn't people used to say "WHOA KEEP AWAY FROM ME" and giggle any time someone would mention they were "just getting over a cold" 3 years ago.

now it's "lol I have highly infectious virus i'ma sit right next to you and lick your baloney sandwich"

with the six feet thing, so....the 'six feet' thing has def always been bullshit, buuuuuuuuuuuut on the other hand, as some virologists pointed out in a (heated) debate with an aerosol specialist, although people have definitely infected people from much further than six feet away indoors due to poor ventilation/etc, you also don't bear the same risk of infection if you're in a room with an infected person but a decent distance away versus being close-up.

lol I'm also the guy who forced a woman to walk away from the table we shared at the library today because she sat down across from me unmasked at a distance of three feet. Masked me rolled his eyes, sighed, coughed, pulled the table close to me. She got the hint. It offended me that she thought it was cool in the middle of a pandemic to sit this close.

I corrected him, but remain doubtful that it landed.

Anyway, to Neando's original point, it remains on brand that this whole pandemic has been about appeasing the dumbest, loudest, most selfish dipshits in the country.

once case numbers hit a very low level, I may start being a little less cautious, but we're not there yet.

though 20% lower week over week means we'll get there

So I went to see Anthrax tonight and had a mask on.

Dickhole wearing an American flag hat looks at Me

"ARE YEW REALLY WEARING A MAAASK?"

dramatically walks away from me as I shoo him.

He goes and loudly whines to his friend about me.

Five minutes later tossed out by cops for starting a fight.

I am in heaven