outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

yeah I think it's just not enforced in many states at this point. fwiw it is extremely enforced in NYS. our kid had to stay home for a day while they figured out a clerical error that caused his record to say he wasn't vaccinated.

There's a "hippy" county north of us that is known for being vaccine-skeptical which has had multiple measles outbreaks over the past decade, I seem to recall one such outbreak contributed to the death of a child in leukemia-remission due to his immuno-compromised state (could be remembering this wrong though).

i was shocked to discover a friend of mine i've known for over a decade is completely anti-vax (kids aren't covid vaxxed for example), which somehow jibes with his entire family always being sick with something or other. i shouldn't assume everyone in California of all (hippie new age crystal healing) places is toeing the scientific facts line as much as i am, but it was still surprising.

In the UK we had an email round from school about increased measles. Not necessarily in our area but wtf people

My partner works in a quite tony London private school, apparently it is riddled with California-adjacent antivax types

CDC officially drops five-day covid isolation guidelines

Americans who test positive for the coronavirus no longer need to routinely stay home from work and school for five days under new guidance released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Not like many of the sick were anyway.

I'm getting a second shot of the latest one in a couple weeks. No reason other than that I did the same last March and the year before.

they're already suggesting that for elder folk so I'm probably gonna do it too since I live w/ my mother still. she can't get another shot right away since she just beat the 'VID

(somehow I never got it)

How long should one wait to get re-upped if they already got the latest vax?

I got mine in September the first week they became available, so it's been six months.

My general understanding from what I've gleaned over the 4 years (!!) of confronting this virus is you've got a much better chance of beating it when you have lots of antibodies already active from a recent vax. If your immune system has to fire up and manufacture antibodies 'from scratch' the virus generally multiples too fast for your system to prevent an infection and you get sick. ofc, your system can have active antibodies from a recent infection, too, but that's not as good as a vax, because even though you'll 'recover' from the infection the virus tends to hide itself in your tissues and linger, so any new infection has an automatic head start and your new infection may be worse than your previous one, not better.

So, vaxxing may not be perfect, but it's still provides the very best protection from the disease that's possible.

I will say that per Katelyn Jetelina's last update, the durability on this most recent vaccine according to preliminary data is better than previous vaccines/boosters, with less waning, so the 'every six month' thing might not be as necessary, even though they are definitely suggesting it for people who are elderly or immunocompromised.

though since so few are taking the vaccines (tragically)...if you want it, go get it, and you will be able to get it easily.

Ya mind posting her update? Thanks.

https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/acip-cliff-notes-feb-28

thanks!

re: antibodies, I'm wondering what information there is on environmental exposure over time. I go out to public events frequently, maybe 10-15 club shows a month, plus various other things. I got the most recent booster on the first day it was available and haven't tested positive in nearly 2 years. Does occasional/regular environmental exposure that doesn't lead to a full infection have an effect on antibody levels? Or, is there evidence that exposure without infection has detrimental long-term health effects?

Does occasional/regular environmental exposure that doesn't lead to a full infection have an effect on antibody levels?

Well, it does prove, I think, that the vax is working.

I got the latest booster in September, got COVID in December, should I boost again?

(consults his lawyer in a rapidly whispered exchange)

On advice of counsel, I recommend you should ask your physician.

I got the latest booster in September, got COVID in December, should I boost again?

It me.

I think I'm going to wait a bit, since I assume I have some protection from the infection.

legend

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/03/german-man-got-217-covid-shots-over-29-months-heres-how-it-went/

Last, multiple types of testing indicated that the man has never been infected with SARS-CoV-2. But the researchers were cautious to note that this may be due to other precautions the man took beyond getting 217 vaccines.

Lmao

just recovered from a truly brutal few days after the PCV20 pneumonia vaccine (which most people don't need, but I needed for reasons), thinking about side effects.

if you struggled with Pfizer or Moderna side effects (or if you have any kind of autoimmune thing, or you have relatives who believe MRNA vaccines put super soldiers from the IRS in your veins), consider the novavax shot. CVS won't take reservations for it, but it is carried at all their locations and they take walk ins. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-11-novavax-latecomer-covid-vaccine-worth.html, https://www.science.org/content/article/should-you-pick-novavax-s-covid-19-shot-over-mrna-options.

My most recent shot was the Novavax, and the process you describe was pretty accurate: make an appointment, then when you get to CVS specify you want the Novamax. But the experience is not universal. Some months back when my mom went to get her latest shot she looked online and saw that CVS had the Novavax, but when she got there they said they didn't, supposedly because demand was so and/or their allotted doses had expired. So I guess caveat emptor/call first.

The current situation is they don't let you pick Novavax when making an appointment, and I don't think they actually want you to make a Pfizer/Moderna placeholder appointment. There is a big banner that says

"Trying to schedule a Novavax vaccine?
Novavax vaccine is carried at all locations.
Appointments are not required. Visit the location of your choice and talk with the Pharmacist in person.
Continue scheduling your appointment online for a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine."

"carried" sounds a bit aspirational, but I think the idea is "walk in and there's a decent chance we'll have it".

I'm trying to remember from when I made my own appointment, but I'm pretty sure they make you pick a vaccine type when you are making a vaccine appointment online. I ended up calling them afterwards and asking, and the guy at the pharmacy told me just to put down one of the other vaccines but to tell them when I checked in that I wanted the novavax. Maybe they have changed procedure? Anyway, just relating my mom's experience, since apparently just because CVS claims to carry the vaccine isn't a guarantee that they actually have it, and to call first.

Good to know. I'm getting a jab this week, probably Novavax, maybe Tanqueray.

You do have to choose a vaccine to make an appointment with cvs. You can’t choose novavax at the time you make the appointment though. They want you to just call in.

Reading this Medium blog about the Foo Fighters' early '00s advocacy for a group that denied the link between HIV and AIDS. Somehow I have never heard about this?

https://medium.com/the-monthly/the-foo-fighters-aids-denialism-should-be-on-the-record-6e33666fdc3c

Alive and Well was not your usual celebrity charity then, but it was nonetheless amplified by one of the biggest bands in the world. In early 2000, President Clinton’s director of AIDS policy admonished them: “For the Foo Fighters to be promoting this is extraordinarily irresponsible behaviour. There is no doubt about the link between HIV and AIDS in the respected scientific community and it’s quite unfortunate that a band reads one book and then adopts this theory. To say [that HIV does not cause AIDS] is akin to saying the world is flat.”

That “one book” was What If Everything You Thought You Knew About AIDS Was Wrong? — self-published pseudo-science written by Alive and Well’s founder, Christine Maggiore, a woman diagnosed with HIV in the early ’90s — and it fell into the idle hands of the Foo Fighters’ bassist, Nate Mendel. After devouring it, Mendel conscripted his bandmates in his advocacy for Maggiore’s group.

too much time on the bus

I remember there was a writer for SPIN magazine in the early 90s, Celia Farber, who penned many articles questioning the HIV-AIDS link. Always thought it was a weird thing to read in a music mag.

Celia Farber is more awful than you think (a galaxy brain thirty years ago can only get exponentially worse)

https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/a-family-that-lost-their-daughter

and on and on

She was Bob Jr’s girlfriend when I was interning at Spin.

fuck

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/01/first-human-avian-flu-case-texas-00149949