All About Vaccines

[Tami]

The End of Vaccines at ‘Warp Speed’

But as a third pandemic winter begins in the United States, its vaccine-making effort has lost steam. Efforts to test and produce next-generation Covid vaccines are bogged down by bureaucratic problems and funding shortfalls. Foreign rivals have raced ahead in approving long-awaited nasal-spray vaccines, including one invented in St. Louis, creating a scenario in which Americans would have to travel abroad for the latest in American vaccine technology.

The Biden administration has launched a last-ditch effort to restore the country’s edge. In a bid to resurrect Operation Warp Speed, President Biden asked the lame-duck session of Congress this week for $5 billion for next-generation vaccines and therapeutics, as part of a broader $9.25 billion pandemic spending request. But Republicans, having blocked requests for next-generation vaccine funding since the spring amid complaints about how the White House spent earlier pandemic aid allocations, have shown no signs of dropping their resistance.

As a result, even with the pandemic still taking a heavy toll, prospects have dimmed for the two most coveted kinds of next-generation vaccines: nasal sprays that can block more infections, and universal coronavirus shots that can defend against a wider array of ever-evolving variants.

In the coming months, scientists project that Covid could kill tens of thousands of Americans. The cost of infections keeps piling up, too: Long Covid sufferers are battling persistent health problems. And millions are missing work because they catch the virus, exacerbating labor shortages.

No next-generation vaccines are as close at hand, or as likely to reduce the spread of the virus, as those that can be inhaled or sprayed into the nose.

By generating immunity in people’s airways, where the coronavirus first lands, those vaccines can potentially help extinguish infections before they begin. Immunity delivered by a shot in the arm, on the other hand, takes longer to attack the invading virus, giving people good protection against serious disease but not to the infections that spread the virus and let it evolve.

China, India, Russia and Iran have all approved vaccines delivered through the nose or the mouth, even though they have not released much data about how the products work.

In the United States, nasal sprays have been held back by the same funding constraints and logistical hassles that, before the pandemic, often made developing vaccines a decade-long ordeal. The delay could not only weaken the country’s defenses against a more lethal coronavirus variant but also hurt preparations for a future pandemic, depriving the world of an oven-ready nasal vaccine platform that could be adapted to a new pathogen.

[Catlady in training]

I've recently has my 4th shot, the one that was made specifically against omicron.
But I would still appreciate if people could mask indoors during autumn and winter, as it also helped keep flu and other respiratory illnesses low last two years.

[Phoenixx9]

People need to stay alert and vigilant over the upcoming Holiday Season and then the Winter and Spring seasons. Hopefully we will get good news by then.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

My last booster shot was in June, so it’s time for the next shot.

[Gray Lensman]

I've recently has my 4th shot, the one that was made specifically against omicron.
But I would still appreciate if people could mask indoors during autumn and winter, as it also helped keep flu and other respiratory illnesses low last two years.

I got my 4th the end of September - my new job is flying me to other plants for training, and I wanted to have an up to date vaccination before getting into a sealed metal tube with 50 to 150 intimate strangers. I typically feel a bit sore and lethargic for a day (starting 12ish hours after getting the shot) but it's better than having to go on a ventilator.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Got my third booster along with a flu shot today. Went on Vaccines.gov a little before 8 this morning and, much to my surprise, secured an appointment for 10:30, easy as you please. My arms are a touch sore, but, I’m doing just fine.

[Tami]

Got my third booster along with a flu shot today. Went on Vaccines.gov a little before 8 this morning and, much to my surprise, secured an appointment for 10:30, easy as you please. My arms are a touch sore, but, I’m doing just fine.

Third Booster? As far as I know, there were the first two shots, then a Booster, and now a second Booster. Four total.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Third Booster? As far as I know, there were the first two shots, then a Booster, and now a second Booster. Four total.

Oh, yeah, it's a thing. At the place where I work, we get reports every now and then about co-workers who test positive, meaning the virus is still out there. Admittedly, that leaves me a tad paranoid, but, if protection is available, why not avail yourself of same?

[Kirby101]

The third booster was specifically for the Omicron variant. I got mine months ago.

[CaptainEurope]

Third Booster? As far as I know, there were the first two shots, then a Booster, and now a second Booster. Four total.

I got my second booster with the "old" vaccine, will get a fourth with the Omicron-specific vaccine in January. A 4 month wait is important so your immune system actually reacts properly to the vaccine.

[Tami]

My husband and I got the upgraded booster a couple of weeks ago. We got the initial double dose last year, then later we got the first booster shot. We could have gotten a booster shot in the summer, but decided to hold off a few months until the upgraded version was available.

[Catlady in training]

My husband and I got the upgraded booster a couple of weeks ago. We got the initial double dose last year, then later we got the first booster shot. We could have gotten a booster shot in the summer, but decided to hold off a few months until the upgraded version was available.

This is exactly how I did it, same with my mother. She also had to wait now to get the flu shot because there needed to be some space between covid and flu vaccines.

[Tami]

This is exactly how I did it, same with my mother. She also had to wait now to get the flu shot because there needed to be some space between covid and flu vaccines.

That's the strange part. When I got my Flu Vaccine, I was told I had to wait to get the COVID Booster. However, when my husband and I went back together to the Doctor's office to get the Booster, we mentioned that he hadn't had his Flu shot yet and they gave it to him on the same day.

I'm not sure I understand how that works.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

That's the strange part. When I got my Flu Vaccine, I was told I had to wait to get the COVID Booster. However, when my husband and I went back together to the Doctor's office to get the Booster, we mentioned that he hadn't had his Flu shot yet and they gave it to him on the same day.

I'm not sure I understand how that works.

I don’t understand it either, but, I’ve done it twice now and experienced no side effects.

[numberthirty]

That's the strange part. When I got my Flu Vaccine, I was told I had to wait to get the COVID Booster. However, when my husband and I went back together to the Doctor's office to get the Booster, we mentioned that he hadn't had his Flu shot yet and they gave it to him on the same day.

I'm not sure I understand how that works.

Start at about two minutes...

(Seems like he is outright suggesting it at 2:17. Pretty sure that what is actually the best thing went out the window a short ways back...)