outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

At commencement the other day I was the only person masked in 20. I'm the only customer in this public library now masked too (every employee bar one is).

we used to have a rapid PCR testing site that was fast and used the very accurate Accula system, that I used to use when I wanted to test before some event. and the fuckers have all been shut down now.

like, as of a week ago :/

Our on-campus Curative trailers, my lifeline for two years, I just learned will close next Wednesday. I'm livid. There will still be county sites, but nothing beat the convenience of a rapid/regular PCR test available a building away from mine.

I more or less have not masked for months, and so far so not bad (knock wood), and that includes going to dinners, shopping, movies, lots of concerts, sporting events, etc. I've stayed out of the habit of touching my face and kept up the habit of thoroughly washing my hands a lot, so maybe that helps. For sure doesn't hurt. None (or very few) of my close friends or family seem to be catching covid right now, either, though I do have one friend who just got over a bad case (bad cold bad), who, per the anecdotal above, had never had it before. My daughter up in college, all the kids up there keep getting sick, but they're not testing positive for covid. Afaict it's just colds and the usual close-quarters shit, which, ironically enough, doctors keep saying is a byproduct of limited exposure to the usual cooties for such a prolonged period of time. I do see a good hunk of people still masking, but I suspect (and in some cases know) that it's strategic. That is, stuff like "we're visiting family soon and don't want to get sick."

I have a couple of super long flights coming up to visit family in Australia, and my wife and I at least are planning to wear masks as much as possible, though it definitely gets pretty uncomfortable after several hours, let alone, like, 17 or whatever.

xpost Yeah, they just ended all but symptomatic testing at my university, as well. I expect the next quarter to be filled to the brim with student absences.

Bumped the rona thread yesterday, I finally got it after avoiding it for 33 months. Mostly just congestion and fatigue, doc prescribed Paxlovid during a virtual visit (was supposed to be at my annual physical til I tested positive) so I started that last night.

aw, jon, sorry to hear it.

Thanks, guess it was pretty much inevitable. So far my wife and son are still testing negative, hoping to keep it that way.

I’m going to straight up say that if you’re just going about your daily business without masking or giving a fuck, then you are part of the problem and can go to hell

Hard to disagree

In the meantime, rest up, jvc!

Really quite easy to wear a mask in public spaces I truly don’t get what ppl’s hang up is. Eat before you go to the movie or whatever, cmon

What blew my mind when I got COVID was when I went to pick up the Paxlovid...was staying at my in-laws empty house in suburban NJ, went to the local CVS and the pharmacist wasn't wearing a mask. The pharmacist who's job was to hand me, an obviously COVID-positive person, my Paxlovid.

I just don’t feel any sympathy for people who are like “masks are so uncomfortable!” I know, my immunocompromised ass has had to wear one nearly constantly because of whiny babies like who just don’t give a fuck about other people. Some selfish shit.

Yeah the pharmacists at the CVS we go to haven't been wearing masks for many, many months. Still takes me aback a little every time I've gone in.

my local duane reade is, but I live in a dense area blocks from the dreaded "epicenter" so people around here are maybe a bit less mask-averse.

Our on-campus Curative trailers, my lifeline for two years, I just learned will close next Wednesday. I'm livid. There will still be county sites, but nothing beat the convenience of a rapid/regular PCR test available a building away from mine.

― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, December 16, 2022 11:11 AM bookmarkflaglink

YEP! Curative were the ones I was talking about. I used to love using them, was so easy.

wastewater data seems to show plateauing nationwide, possible slight decline in the west

cases obv not plateauing, and wastewater sometimes can be noisy on individual weeks, so not putting 100% stock in that yet

Florida ticking up more though, finally

Yeah the pharmacists at the CVS we go to haven't been wearing masks for many, many months.

The CVS pharms we go to, on the other hand, have not stopped masking up. I often gauge things by how many staff are masked at our Trader Joe's, and it seems to be hovering around 30%, though not consistently. I've not been anywhere in the past several months with even close to that amount masked. I think one important shift that's happened, at least around here or where people have the luxury, is people staying home or staying in when they feel or are sick. That helps a lot, or should. It's been months since I've heard more than a passing cough, sneeze or sniffle in public.

my partner and i remain covid virgins, keep wondering when that shoe is gonna drop. She works in a school, i'm out at shows all the time. We're both diligent maskers but one assumes that's not foolproof.

Still haven't caught it either, and having that same "it's probably just around the corner" feeling.

Hope it passes easily, jvc!

good news for parents (not good that it was a huge wave, but good that it's apparently winding down)

RSV hospitalizations have peaked in the US: earlier, higher, and sharper than usual, as predicted by epidemiological models taking into account the lower immunity/higher susceptible population due to lower infections in previous years.

1/ pic.twitter.com/iOW5O4TSq1

— Prof. Michael S Fuhrer (@MichaelSFuhrer) December 15, 2022

early reports on bivalent booster protection against severe disease that are emerging this week are very positive. particularly hospitalization.

glad to hear about RSV. hospitals are jampacked atm due to the tridemic.

I had RSV (presumably) around Thanksgiving. Not a fan tbh and I still have some rebound congestion/coughing

tbh I miss the dry cough of covid (but not any of the other bits) because wet coughs are gross

I dunno, I prefer a productive cough. No cough of mine gonna be in the unemployment line.

fair

I have still so far avoided it all. I intend to my best to keep to that.

good thing the pandemic is over

Moderna is considering raising the price of its COVID-19 vaccine by over 400 percent—from $26 per dose to between $110 and $130 per dose—according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Ars has reached out to Moderna for comment but has not yet received a response. The plan, if realized, would match the previously announced price hike for Pfizer-BioNTech's rival COVID-19 vaccine.

The Journal spoke with Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco Monday, who said of the 400 percent price hike: "I would think this type of pricing is consistent with the value.”

Until now, the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have been purchased by the government and offered to Americans for free. In the latest federal contract from July, Moderna's updated booster shot cost the government $26 per dose, up from $15–$16 per dose in earlier supply contracts, the Journal notes. Similarly, the government paid a little over $30 per dose for Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine this past summer, up from $19.50 per dose in contracts from 2020.

But now that the federal government is backing away from distributing the vaccines, their makers are moving to the commercial market—with price adjustments. Financial analysts had previously anticipated Pfizer would set the commercial price for its vaccine at just $50 per dose but were taken aback in October when Pfizer announced plans of a price between $110 and $130. Analysts then anticipated that Pfizer's price would push Moderna and other vaccine makers to follow suit, which appears to be happening now.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/01/moderna-may-match-pfizers-400-price-hike-on-covid-vaccines-report-says/

There are reasons why some people don't trust the pharma industry for any reason, and this sort of despicable price-gouging is among them.

i am increasingly feeling like the only mask wearer in a crowd

For the first time, not a single student masked in my two face-to-face classes.

Whereas both of the events where I am reading this weekend and next require masks, no exceptions.

good news, and why I got so angry at those who wanted to throw cold water on the bivalents prematurely:

The Covid bivalent vaccine booster works better than expected.
I've reviewed the cumulative datahttps://t.co/tR5S4BBaYb
That's in contrast to a @NEJM essay today and 2 lab studies that used a pseudovirus assay without assessing the XBB variants

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) January 11, 2023

wastewater absolutely plummeted in Florida and nationally this week. wondering if that's just because holiday gatherings caused it to spike and now it's leveling off now that they're over.

doesn't mean it's going to keep doing that, but i'll take it for now.

I gotta say, as far as celebrations, even with precautions, 2022 was the most normal holiday season in three. No-one I know got infected.

a week ago I flew on 4 flights through 4 airports and went to a toddler's birthday party with like 50 people, I was masked up for the flights but not the party, which was in a very large room w/open doors to outside, nobody got COVID, it feels like a transition (that being said duh I mask on errands still)

Definitely were some actual bugs going around -- my sis's birthday is five days before Christmas, she wanted to have it in a fave bar, fairly close quarters and no outside area, so I went for a bit, kept my mask on and didn't indulge in any drinks or anything. Day before Christmas, I'm at the house with my folks, my sis arrives...masked up, because she and others got a bad cold; her partner was similarly unable to join us this year as a result. (They tested aggressively and it wasn't COVID but I'm sure glad I stuck with my hunch for the birthday.)

I caught some kind of bug in early December: nausea and mild fever. No hint of respiratory ailment (i.e. sore throat, runny nose, coughing), no other symptoms. Weird. Not COVID. So, yes, there's a lotta shit in the air.

my mother got a sinus infection and was uber worried but we got 8 tests through our insurance and it wasn't. but because of her hyperfocus on covid, she hadn't considered sinus infection so after a week of non-improvement we realized she probably needed antibiotics, and it zapped it out right quick.

My whole family had a bad non-COVID cold (multiple negative tests all around) but yeah, still traveling a ton, still lots of eating indoors, all I'm doing for COVID prevention is wearing an N95 when I'm inside and not eating, and I just keep not getting it.

that being said duh I mask on errands still)

Yup. In class and extended spells in public places too.

my two year COVID study was supposed to send me a gift for completing the study and they keep delaying it.

the fuck could it be, a damn statue? if it's a gift card to Friendly's, just give it to me so I can get my damn Fribble already

A picture of Fauci's pubic hairs.

I'll also say that friends and relatives' experiences with Paxlovid have considerably changed perceptions of the disease. All are boosted, it should go without saying.

We just spent around 40 hours on airplanes, more time in airports, restaurants, on public transportation, etc, mostly without masks, and none of us caught anything (afaict). My in-laws made almost the same trip to the same destination a few weeks ago, with much more mask wearing, and both of them tested positive for covid as soon as they got home. They suspect it could have been exposure during a long layover at LAX, during which they let down their guard for a relaxed meal, but at this stage, who knows. Bad timing? Fortunately, despite being in their '70s, they had only mild symptoms for a couple of days. Was that the boosters at work? A weaker strain *not* at work? Again, who knows.

i still have brain fog issues from the v intense bout of covid i just had so good luck to all of you

i'm sorry to hear it, Brad :(