All About Vaccines

[Gray Lensman]

Let the government worry about handing out vaccines, best to get you third shot as soon as you are able. Mixing vaccines is safe and effective, so my personal recommendation is to go for it. You getting third shot won't impact anyone other than yourself. There is enough vaccine to go around, it's the distribution that is the problem.

And the legal contracts. At least in the US.

[Tami]

The most-vaccinated big counties in America are beating the worst of the coronavirus

Perhaps the most highly vaccinated large county in America, according to New York Times data, is Montgomery County, Md., just outside the District of Columbia. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show 93 percent of those 12 and older there are fully vaccinated, compared to around 70 percent nationally. The number dying over the past week is eight times as high nationally — 3.4 per 1 million — as it is in Montgomery County — 0.4 per 1 million — even as Montgomery County is near some virus hotspots.

The relative rate is similar in two of the handful of other most-vaccinated large counties in the country: Dane County, Wis. (home to Madison), where 86 percent of people 12 and older are fully vaccinated, per the CDC, and San Francisco, where 84 percent are vaccinated. Dane County also has 0.4 deaths per 1 million despite being in one of the most hard-hit regions, the Midwest.

Slightly fewer people 12 and over are vaccinated in New York City, though still north of 80 percent. Over the past week, it has registered a per-capita death rate about one-third the national average.

[batnbreakfast]

I'm in Germany and it was very easy for me. I heard about a doctor's office where they did not care about the 6 months gap. I called on Tuesday and got vaxxed on Friday. Empty waiting room, no wait.

There's also an app for that, a friend used it and found an appointment in a neighboring town the next day.

Most larger towns have walk-in vaccination sites where you can get the booster 5 months after the second shot.

Do you live in a small village?

No, I live in Nuremberg and am trying to set up my third shot.

[JB]

NYC Expands Vaccine Mandate to Whole Private Sector, Ups Dose Proof to 2 and Adds Kids 5-11
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coro...surge/3434858/

Starting Dec. 27, NYC's vaccine mandate will expand to all private-sector workers, a move Mayor Bill de Blasio called the first of its kind in the nation as he announced the looming changes on Monday.

The mandate is tightening in other ways, too: proof of two doses rather than one will be required, and kids aged 5 to 11, will have to show proof of one for indoor dining and other activities starting on Dec. 14.

The latest development comes as the number of confirmed omicron cases rises across the city and the nation, along with the daily COVID-19 positivity rate; early evidence on its severity, though, is encouraging.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Just returned from getting my booster shot (Pfizer), and got my flu jab as well. Killed two birds with one visit.

[JB]

The FDA has published the new package insert for Pfizer's vaccine, Comirnaty.

https://www.fda.gov/media/151707/download

[achilles]

The FDA has published the new package insert for Pfizer's vaccine, Comirnaty.

https://www.fda.gov/media/151707/download

This is an interesting one. I believe in tests it has the best longer term T-cell or something rates, the guys who actually get out there and kill the virus in your body. Not the actual antibodies themselves, but the other key part of the immune system. Otherwise, I believe Moderna has the best longer term antibody response. The other interesting bit about it is that it seems completely unsuitable for any country with less than stellar infrastructure and medical care....actually caring for it and giving the shot seems a bit...complicated.

[Gray Lensman]

This is an interesting one. I believe in tests it has the best longer term T-cell or something rates, the guys who actually get out there and kill the virus in your body. Not the actual antibodies themselves, but the other key part of the immune system. Otherwise, I believe Moderna has the best longer term antibody response. The other interesting bit about it is that it seems completely unsuitable for any country with less than stellar infrastructure and medical care....actually caring for it and giving the shot seems a bit...complicated.

The fact that the Pfizer shot is the hardest to distribute has been known for a while. The Moderna shot isn't easy either, but is still easier to deal with than Pfizer's. That's a huge part of why everyone was so hopeful at the initial approval of the J&J shot - ease of distribution.

[JB]

Omicron could be more contagious, less dangerous. That would be 'good news for the human race.'
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...us/8886726002/

Early reports from South Africa seem to indicate the omicron variant of coronavirus is much more contagious than previous variants while causing milder disease, though experts there warn definitive data won't be available for weeks.

"This virus comes with both barrels loaded – high infectivity and potentially the ability for immune evasion. But maybe what it's lacking is pathogenicity," said Dr. Warner Greene, director of the Center for HIV Cure Research at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco.

COVID-19 cases in South Africa's Gauteng province are doubling every day and 75% of infections are due to omicron. There is also a week-over-week increase in hospital admissions.

But so far there have not been an increase in deaths or even hospitalized people who require oxygen, said Greene, who spoke on a call with reporters Monday.

[CaptainEurope]

No, I live in Nuremberg and am trying to set up my third shot.

Bavaria is turning out to be almost as bad at managing the pandemic as Thüringen and Saxony. Wondering why that is.

[batnbreakfast]

Bavaria is turning out to be almost as bad at managing the pandemic as Thüringen and Saxony. Wondering why that is.

I've been working for the Health Office of Nuremberg since September 2020 and it seems there is no learning curve when it comes to managing the virus as an authority. My guess is at government level it is the same. Everybody wanted to get elected and lockdown doesn't make you popular. Also lobbyism and putting economy first. Your guess is as good as mine, Captain.

[achilles]

Here's a weird one; if you want to get a vaccine, any of them, do it in the afternoon, later in the day. That appears to generate the highest level of antibodies in response. Might have something to do with circadian rhythms, but the study in question did not correct or account for sleep patterns. It was a study of health care workers who got vaccinated.

[JB]

It's obviously way too early to firmly determine anything but posting for optimism's sake.

Omicron variant could signal ‘end of Covid-19’
https://www.citizen.co.za/news/covid...d-of-covid-19/

A health expert in South Africa thinks there could be a “silver lining” to the emergence of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant.

Richard Friedland, chief executive officer of Netcare, said the early signs from Omicron infections suggested the variant was highly contagious, but it did not cause severe illness.

“If, in the second and third wave, we’d seen these levels of positivity to tests conducted, we would have seen very significant increases in hospital admissions, and we’re not seeing that,” said Friedland.

“I actually think there is a silver lining here and this may signal the end of Covid-19.”

He said a similar pattern was seen with the Spanish flu.

The Spanish flu emerged in 1918 and resulted in the death of around 50 million people worldwide. By 1920, the virus that caused it became less deadly, causing only ordinary flu.

Friedland reaffirmed this view on Radio 702, saying: “If we can get a variant that overtakes Delta, that doesn’t cause severe illness, I think we’ll be dealing with a flu-like pandemic."

[JB]

Fauci: It's 'when, not if' definition of fully vaccinated will change
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcar...ed-will-change

Anthony Fauci said Wednesday he thinks the definition of being fully vaccinated will eventually change to include a booster, especially as new evidence is emerging that a booster dose offers the best protection against the omicron variant.

"Right now, I don't see that changing tomorrow or next week," Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, said in an interview with CNN’s Kate Bolduan.

But he added that his "own personal opinion" is that "it's going to be a matter of when, not if."

[TheKryptonMan]

Fauci: It's 'when, not if' definition of fully vaccinated will change
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcar...ed-will-change

I think that Fauci is correct , he's been working at this for so many years.
It's sad what the anti vaxxers say about him .