COVID-19 treatment and vaccine update thread

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Nov 20, 2023 11:30 am

I'll let this round go to others. I'm still in isolation waiting for my insurance to transition and I've used zero of the last round. I'd order them and give them away to those who would use them, but that feel dishonest, assuming they will run out.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Nov 20, 2023 11:30 am

They're shipping the week of 11/27. Not really sure why they didn't have it ready to go for Thanksgiving, but I guess having it for Xmas use is better than nothing...

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Nov 20, 2023 11:31 am

LordMortis wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 11:30 am I'll let this round go to others. I'm still in isolation waiting for my insurance to transition and I've used zero of the last round. I'd order them and give them away to those who would use them, but that feel dishonest, assuming they will run out.

I'm going to say order them regardless. They're going to get dumpstered by the Feds if there are any left over so you might has well get some on the off chance you can use them or get them to someone locally that can.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Nov 20, 2023 11:39 am

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 11:31 am
LordMortis wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 11:30 am I'll let this round go to others. I'm still in isolation waiting for my insurance to transition and I've used zero of the last round. I'd order them and give them away to those who would use them, but that feel dishonest, assuming they will run out.
I'm going to say order them regardless. They're going to get dumpstered by the Feds if there are any left over so you might has well get some on the off chance you can use them or get them to someone locally that can.

Narrator: there will be many left over.

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Mon Nov 20, 2023 11:41 am

After I placed the first order, the "thank you" page told me that my address was eligible for one more order. So I went ahead and placed a 2nd order, so I'll have 8 tests coming.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Nov 20, 2023 12:04 pm

Ordered. I was also eligible for eight. With three people in the house, four wouldn't go far.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Nov 20, 2023 12:12 pm

Wife went through our hoard and updated all the expiration dates; we still have dozens on hand. But four more? Why not? We test for covid whenever we have any cold- or flu-like symptoms so I always welcome more "fresh" tests.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Mon Nov 20, 2023 12:16 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 11:10 am Four more free tests available...

You should put that in your signature. (not kidding)

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Mon Nov 20, 2023 3:15 pm

Thanks! Ordered another set.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Nov 22, 2023 7:43 pm

Kinda...surprising to see. Stay safe my OO friends

Improving ventilation can help reduce the risk of #COVID19 spreading at your holiday gatherings. You can keep windows open, use exhaust fans, and use air purifiers. A breath of fresh air for a safer celebration. Find more tips here.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:21 pm

Page 2? No news on treatments or vaccines, but the CDC did just launch an official Wastewater tracking page if you're into that kind of thing. Why would we do that?

Wastewater (sewage) can be tested to detect traces of infectious diseases circulating in a community, even if people don’t have symptoms. You can use these data as an early warning that levels of infections may be increasing or decreasing in your community.

Spoiler:

Nationally, the wastewater viral activity level for COVID-19 is currently High.

Region with the highest wastewater viral activity level for COVID-19: Midwest

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:29 pm

My BIL is coming out of quarantine for his thanksgiving bout. My sister managed to avoid it so far this time.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 9:55 pm

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:29 pm My BIL is coming out of quarantine for his thanksgiving bout. My sister managed to avoid it so far this time.

My wife and in-laws are also getting over it…

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 9:58 pm

Hurry up and get better so everyone can get it again for Xmas.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 11:31 pm

Collect every variant!

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 11:47 pm

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 11:31 pm Collect every variant!

(JN.1, descended from BA.2.86 for those keeping track)

MHS · Post by **MHS** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 11:20 am

Smoove, what are your thoughts on testing versus not testing if you are remote and never very rarely around other people? I either have a cold or Covid right now. This is the first time I've really thought I might have Covid. I have no sense of smell or taste, have all the typical cold symptoms + diarrhea, no fever though. My home Covid test says negative but our daughter (with an MPH) says the home tests aren't great at picking up variants. She says I should go ahead and pay the $100 to get a PCR. I say I started getting sick last Friday, so it's not as if they could give me Paxlovid now and honestly, I don't feel bad enough to warrant it anyway) so why bother? She says it would just be good to know for long-term health implications. I'm sleeping in the guest bedroom and avoiding Neal. What are your thoughts?

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 11:48 am

I am curious too, and I will just add - given the context that you described, one just assumes they have Covid (even though the home test says negative) and if they are not needing or seeking additional aid, then why go through the finance and effort to just make it official.

I realize the main reason would be to help the public understand the numbers, but accurate home-tests also hid a lot of official positive covid reports/data as well, so I don't know what to say to that as well.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 11:51 am

MHS wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 11:20 am Smoove, what are your thoughts on testing versus not testing if you are remote and never very rarely around other people? I either have a cold or Covid right now. This is the first time I've really thought I might have Covid. I have no sense of smell or taste, have all the typical cold symptoms + diarrhea, no fever though. My home Covid test says negative but our daughter (with an MPH) says the home tests aren't great at picking up variants. She says I should go ahead and pay the $100 to get a PCR. I say I started getting sick last Friday, so it's not as if they could give me Paxlovid now and honestly, I don't feel bad enough to warrant it anyway) so why bother? She says it would just be good to know for long-term health implications. I'm sleeping in the guest bedroom and avoiding Neal. What are your thoughts?

If you go see your PCP, will they still charge you $100 for a test?

IANAS but I would probably do another at home because I am cheap. If I had the means for a real test without the $100 price tag, I'd go for that. Though, I don't know that I am as immunocompromised as you are, which is definitely something to take in to consideration and $100 might provide better peace of mind for you than for me.

Note: I am almost never around other people, no traveling, I masked religiously probably until August, and I contracted TB sometime in the last year, presumably during one of my operations, or more probably during PT, where lots of people were working out and I was often the only one masked. I can think of one person who will never go to a public gym again.

May you get better quickly.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 12:04 pm

MHS wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 11:20 am She says it would just be good to know for long-term health implications. I'm sleeping in the guest bedroom and avoiding Neal. What are your thoughts?

Yes, these are my (unpopular) thoughts as well. Specifically, getting a diagnosis and having it documented on the off-chance there are future complications and you need access to additional healthcare and/or (god forbid) disability consideration.

The at-home tests are definitely all over the place with sensitivity. I saw someone over the summer that was using their confirmed infection status to test two different at-home brands across 7+ days and using different methodologies (nose vs cheek vs throat) for sample collection and the test kits were all over the place with respect to reporting their status. I'm not sure if it's a variant variable or how we still don't really know the typical progression of illness - especially in a population of mixed status (vaccinated, prior infection, etc...) - I suspect there are quite a few variables involved as to whether or not a home kit reports accurately.

So yeah...I'd probably get a confirmatory test and/or doctor's evaluation. Not so much for others (though I do care about Neal!) but mainly for future-proofing the awful collective path we're all on. Glad to know it's been tolerable; I hope everything passes quickly.

MHS · Post by **MHS** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 12:21 pm

You public health people all stick together.

OK. Today is the first day I'm feeling an upswing of improvement, so I think I can handle driving to the doc for a test and will go ahead and do that. For SCIENCE! Thanks.

LM, sorry to hear about the TB, that sucks. I'm with you on the "no public gym" thing but YouTube has a lot of great free workout options for all fitness levels. You've done a great job with your weight loss!

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 12:33 pm

MHS wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 12:21 pm You public health people all stick together. OK.

It's almost like...there's a unified body of work behind us.

Hopefully you get good news regardless and you can just be mad at us public health folks for wasting your time.

That said, I'm guessing your local doctor's office is currently overwhelmed with people visiting for similar reasons. Call it a hunch.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 1:21 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 12:33 pm
It's almost like...there's a unified body of work behind us.

Fox News: We now have an inside source providing confirmation of a Deep State public health conspiracy!

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 5:08 pm

Turkey day I woke up wishing I hadn't. I got to skip the family event and ate leftover thai food instead... I couldn't really taste it but the spice still hit. 4 days of fever, never bothered to take a test but I had jsut come back from a convention so... anyway, I was ok to go to work on Monday. Yay.

Smoove and his damn vaccine didn't save me from my idiocy!

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 5:41 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 5:08 pm Smoove and his damn vaccine didn't save me from my idiocy!

You're not in the ICU or the morgue, so maybe it did...

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 8:56 pm

Got my Covid booster/shot whatever today.

I've been fighting a cold for the past 2 weeks but haven't been running a fever or anything. It's not COVID as I tested, but just as she was about to jab the needle in she said, "Have you had any symptoms of respiratory illness in the last week..." and as I said, "Well, actually..." she jabbed it in and then got this absolutely horrified look on her face waiting for me to finish my sentence.

Once she found out it was mild and I wasn't running a fever or anything she looked mildly relieved. But I hate that I gave her such a fright.

Victoria Raverna · Post by **Victoria Raverna** » Thu Nov 30, 2023 1:34 am

MHS wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 11:20 am Smoove, what are your thoughts on testing versus not testing if you are remote and never very rarely around other people? I either have a cold or Covid right now. This is the first time I've really thought I might have Covid. I have no sense of smell or taste, have all the typical cold symptoms + diarrhea, no fever though. My home Covid test says negative but our daughter (with an MPH) says the home tests aren't great at picking up variants. She says I should go ahead and pay the $100 to get a PCR. I say I started getting sick last Friday, so it's not as if they could give me Paxlovid now and honestly, I don't feel bad enough to warrant it anyway) so why bother? She says it would just be good to know for long-term health implications. I'm sleeping in the guest bedroom and avoiding Neal. What are your thoughts?

When I thought I got COVID-19, I didn't test for it. My wife tested positive for COVID-19 and I had the same symptom as her so I assumed that I got COVID-19 and we isolated ourselves in the main bedroom away from my daughter and mother in law. Over a week later we recovered and she took a test again and it was negative but I didn't bother to take one myself.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Thu Nov 30, 2023 4:26 am

As some of you may know. I had a major medical adventure last year in feb.
Proor to that, I started having Covid symptoms at the end of Dec 2021. I've had it a few times and this felt the same.
I didn't bither getting tested because I wasn't able to work in that condition whether it was Covid or not and I was already isolating.
Those symptoms lasted until I was Hospitalized.
In the hospital I tested negative but Covid still being the cause was one theory. They said it could have left my system by then but it still caused my issues.
If I get symptoms kasting more than 3 or 4 days I go get fulll tedting mow.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Dec 04, 2023 7:05 pm

Maybe someone did this last year, but it's the first I'm seeing it for this current year. Based on today's trending data (12/4), how does it look for Xmas gatherings?

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Mon Dec 04, 2023 7:52 pm

So even if I spend Christmas entirely alone, I have a 3.5% chance of catching it from myself?

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Dec 04, 2023 8:36 pm

Not quite. 3.5% chance you're infectious, i.e. already "sick" with COVID-19. Be safe, my friend.

EDIT: post-Thanksgiving wastewater bump

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Mon Dec 04, 2023 11:24 pm

Wow, it's calculated 3.5% of the US population is currently infected? Or, will be by the 25th....

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Dec 05, 2023 12:12 am

If the current (12/4) data trend continues, then yes 3.5%. Also,

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Dec 05, 2023 11:43 am

30% chance with 10 people is lower than I would have guessed, so yay? Of course I am still coughing like I'm dying 2 weeks after the fever dissipated and I barely even get a reaction because I am one of oh so many.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Dec 05, 2023 11:51 am

That's just the birthday problem with better (worse) odds!

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Tue Dec 05, 2023 11:57 am

From what I've seen, most people just don't care about things like the probability of getting infected. They are resigned to the idea that they will get COVID (again and again), so they don't bother trying to avoid it. They just count on it not being too serious, and they don't worry about long covid as long as it doesn't hit them, or anyone they care about, hard enough that they can't ignore it.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Dec 05, 2023 12:03 pm

Exactly - it's officially been relegated to "it's just a cold" status - despite the fact that for (I think) 12 consecutive weeks now it's killed more than 1,000 people a week; that's absurd - that people are still dying from what is now a vaccine preventable (death) disease. From this morning:

Only 27 percent of nursing home residents and just 6 percent of staff have been vaccinated since the updated version of the shot became available in September, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

...

The numbers for nursing homes reflect an overall low vaccination rate among the rest of Americans.

According to the most recent agency estimates, only 16 percent of all adults have received the updated shot for the week ending Nov. 25.

Regarding behaviors:

As the public heads into the fourth holiday season with the virus, a survey from health policy research group KFF found the vaccine was just not a priority for people.

About half of those who were previously vaccinated but haven’t gotten the latest shot said lack of worry about COVID-19 was a reason why they haven’t gotten it. About 37 percent said they’ve been too busy, and 32 percent said they are waiting to get it later.

“The sense of worry or concern is much lower. And therefore that seems to be what is likely driving people’s action. Or in this case, inaction,” said Jen Kates, a KFF senior vice president.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Dec 05, 2023 12:09 pm

6% of nursing home staff!? Apparently I do retain the ability to be surprised. Not sure what I expected, maybe 40-60%?

6%; yegads.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Dec 05, 2023 12:13 pm

No mandates = no vaccinations.

It's exactly the same thing you see in hospital systems for annual influenza vaccination, because freedom.

The way around it is for states to refuse to license hospital systems or provide them with non-profit status unless they adopt a workplace vaccination policy. But if state legislatures won't pass that type of regulation? Good luck.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Dec 05, 2023 12:18 pm

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2023 12:09 pm 6% of nursing home staff!? Apparently I do retain the ability to be surprised. Not sure what I expected, maybe 40-60%?

6%; yegads.

My wife's hospital mandated Flu vaccines up through 2021, for some reason they no longer mandate anything. Forget about anything COVID.