COVID 19 White House Giving Away Free COVID Tests Again

[rdrr]

The three of us (husband, mother, me) have our new Covid boosters and flu shots scheduled for tomorrow.


That must be a thing for doctors to schedule as many procedures as possible on that date. I’m also going in then.

Good luck, they first wanted to book me on Oct 7th which I politely rejected. It is my B-Day and I didn't want the possibility (even if its remote), of a headstone that said Born on: Oct 7th, Died on Oct 7th. Plus who want to celebrate "your day" in a hospital?

 

[Alli]

Good luck, they first wanted to book me on Oct 7th which I politely rejected. It is my B-Day and I didn't want the possibility (even if its remote), of a headstone that said Born on: Oct 7th, Died on Oct 7th. Plus who want to celebrate "your day" in a hospital?

Funnier and funnier. My birthday’s the 18th. Outpatient, so I’ll be done and home for my birthday - and maybe even have a Dx! My other option was to wait until November, but my oncologist said “now,” and the 17th was as close to now as we were gonna get.

 

[cbum]

One factor I haven't seen you guys discuss that I find important is the recently FDA- approved vaccine version that covers the newly emerging dominant Covid19 variants that appear more and more resistant to the older vaccines.
I would make sure you are getting the new one at this point.
My routine is to try to combine Covid19 & Flu & RSV in the fall (about now). While perhaps counterintuitive, combining several vaccines doesn't decrease the effect - to the contrary, it may increase the immune response.
As to the side effects, I have almost completely eliminated them (except a slightly sore arm) by taking a full dose of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory such as Naproxen (500mg) just before the shot(s). This also does not decrease the efficacy of the vaccine.
Vaccines have been one of the most consequential medical advances in human history - use them!

 

[Roller]

One factor I haven't seen you guys discuss that I find important is the recently FDA- approved vaccine version that covers the newly emerging dominant Covid19 variants that appear more and more resistant to the older vaccines.
I would make sure you are getting the new one at this point.
My routine is to try to combine Covid19 & Flu & RSV in the fall (about now). While perhaps counterintuitive, combining several vaccines doesn't decrease the effect - to the contrary, it may increase the immune response.
As to the side effects, I have almost completely eliminated them (except a slightly sore arm) by taking a full dose of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory such as Naproxen (500mg) just before the shot(s). This also does not decrease the efficacy of the vaccine.
Vaccines have been one of the most consequential medical advances in human history - use them!

The two mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are monovalent, targeted to the KP.2 strain of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. As you can see here, KP.2 now accounts for a very small percentage of infections, with KP.3.1.1 now dominant. But this doesn't mean the current vaccine won't be effective at all, since that depends on how much the virus has mutated and what the mutations do to virulence and transmission. So the vaccine is still strongly recommended to lessen the chance of severe illness and possibly Long COVID.

We're going to be chasing our collective tails and remaining behind the curve until intranasal and/or pan-coronavirus vaccines are approved in the United States. (Some have been released elsewhere.) So far, the only politician I've heard calling for high-level funding has been Bernie Sanders.

By the way, some authorities continue to advise not to take analgesic medication before vaccination, as that may blunt the immune response. At one point, NSAIDS such as Naproxen were especially frowned upon, but I've read several studies that counter the claim.

 

[cbum]

As you can see here

Missing link? But you are AFAIK correct. Here is a good link: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-summary
The bottom line is, the newly released 2024-2025 formulations (as you indicate, containing the monovalent KP.2 variants of the JN.1 lineage) are a better match to the latest and greatest Flirt variants, like the KP.3.1.1. We are definitely entering the "Flu-Era" of Covid19. But that should not let us underestimate Covid19 - it can be devastating to the unvaccinated ( >>Flu, but we have had a century to adapt to the latter).

And yes, you are right on with your bolded statement - particularly the last part ;-)
In spite of my NSAID use, I have never tested positive for Covid, although my wife did, and I'm in a hospital environment ;-)

 

[Roller]

Missing link? But you are AFAIK correct. Here is a good link: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-summary
The bottom line is, the newly released 2024-2025 formulations (as you indicate, containing the monovalent KP.2 variants of the JN.1 lineage) are a better match to the latest and greatest Flirt variants, like the KP.3.1.1. We are definitely entering the "Flu-Era" of Covid19. But that should not let us underestimate Covid19 - it can be devastating to the unvaccinated ( >>Flu, but we have had a century to adapt to the latter).

And yes, you are right on with your bolded statement - particularly the last part ;-)
In spite of my NSAID use, I have never tested positive for Covid, although my wife did, and I'm in a hospital environment ;-)

My link works properly for me, but thanks for including the URL.

I suspect many people who never tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were asymptomatic or were so minimally symptomatic that they didn't undergo PCR or equivalent testing or weren't tested at all. In some studies, the prevalence of asymptomatic infection was as high as 34%. I didn't get sick when I was working in the hospital, including on units with COVID patients, and I never figured out how I contracted the virus months later.

I completely agree about the risk to unvaccinated people and that even the current vaccines are better than nothing. What's unfortunate is that so many now view COVID as an annoyance not worthy of vaccination or other risk mitigation. I especially worry about the burden of Long COVID and, perhaps even more, about long-term effects in people without persistent symptoms.

Take care!

 

[cbum]

My link works properly for me

Sorry, I simply didn't see the link, for me there was no underline, and I didn't think to click.
Asymptomatic infection point taken, but obviously I also tested regularly. Not that that is any proof.
You are right about the long Covid issue, I have several colleagues that got it and it's a pain. Fortunately, there is increasing evidence that milder disease has lower LC rates than severe cases, and one of the clearest advantages of vaccines is the strong shift from severe to mild disease, if you do get infected.

One of the unsung advantages of the mRNA technology is how it makes creating custom vaccine versions for new variants a trivial MolBio exercise.

Stay safe (and sane...)

 

[Katbel]

...
And yes, you are right on with your bolded statement - particularly the last part ;-)
In spite of my NSAID use, I have never tested positive for Covid, although my wife did, and I'm in a hospital environment ;-)

Did you never get Covid? Great for you! I never tested positive either-even with PCR but I'm sure I had it at least 3 times and I have all the vaccines and mask when in crowded places but nonetheless . I'm sure because I had all the symptoms as my family had and one of my daughters had it too and she never tested positive either. The last one was beginning of July 2024, lost taste for one day only, sore throat and the worse migraine I ever had. Migraine is still lingering here and there, specially at night. I hope it will go away at some point.

 

[Alli]

We got our jabs yesterday. Somewhat sore arm, but that’s the only side effect. I look forward to another Covid-free year.

 

[Hrafn]

We got our jabs yesterday. Somewhat sore arm, but that’s the only side effect. I look forward to another Covid-free year.

My wife got shots last month, but they couldn't use the old Covid shots anymore, and didn't have the new ones. I try to get both flu and Covid sometime late September or early October.

 

[Alli]

My wife got shots last month, but they couldn't use the old Covid shots anymore, and didn't have the new ones. I try to get both flu and Covid sometime late September or early October.

You wouldn’t believe how quickly I made appointments when I found out the new one was available.

 

[shadow puppet]

After catching a very faint Covid while in the hospital last month (I could still smell and taste), I got both my flu & 8th Covid jab yesterday.