COVID-19 treatment and vaccine update thread

[Zaxxon]

There's a time to decide to stop masking and do stuff. I would humbly suggest December of 2022 is not that time, though I can appreciate opinions vary.

I appreciate this (truly, I do), but I did have a short internal giggle at the idea that Smoove actually thinks there's a time to stop masking that will come anytime in the next few years.

[em2nought]

So if you got a Moderna booster in October would it have definitely been the bivalent shot?

[Smoove_B]

So if you got a Moderna booster in October would it have definitely been the bivalent shot?

I want to say 100% absolutely but it would not surprise me to learn someone in a random state was not given a bivalent shot.

[Smoove_B]

I appreciate this (truly, I do), but I did have a short internal giggle at the idea that Smoove actually thinks there's a time to stop masking that will come anytime in the next few years.

Understandably.

Still going with my OG prediction of 2024, though I'm being forced into higher risk situations over the next 6 weeks and I really don't like any of it. I've made it clear that if I get COVID-19, get sick and then die or lose my legs I want the people that forced me into these situations and/or that insisted on coming to my house unmasked after traveling from 3+ states away by airplane to know it was them.

[gilraen]

So if you got a Moderna booster in October would it have definitely been the bivalent shot?

I want to say 100% absolutely but it would not surprise me to learn someone in a random state was not given a bivalent shot.

FDA yanked approval for original (monovalent) boosters in August - I'd think pharmacy or doctor would be risking their license if they administered the original booster. The paperwork you got with your shot should list the product name and dosage, though, and bivalent booster would look different (original Moderna booster was essentially half-dosage at 0.25mL, bivalent booster is 0.5mL)

[Smoove_B]

FDA yanked approval for original (monovalent) boosters in August - I'd think pharmacy or doctor would be risking their license if they administered the original booster. The paperwork you got with your shot should list the product name and dosage, though, and bivalent booster would look different (original Moderna booster was essentially half-dosage at 0.25mL, bivalent booster is 0.5mL)

That's fair. it's not like doctors or pharmacists have done anything over the last 3 years that would risk their licenses.

I actually haven't heard of any specific situations and I guess the window for hearing about it happening has probably passed.

I was going to comment on the paperwork but I seem to recall em2 having issues with hard copies? Or maybe I'm making that up.

[em2nought]

I was going to comment on the paperwork but I seem to recall em2 having issues with hard copies? Or maybe I'm making that up.

Yes, I had left my vaccine card in my glovebox when I got turned away due to hurricane. I've since found it and received the booster, but from what I can tell it doesn't specify which booster on the card so I looked around some more for my receipt from Winn Dixie and found that it was .5 ml biv. Thanks for the response.

[hitbyambulance]

just found out one of my cousins is now sick with covid... for the _fourth_ time

[Isgrimnur]

[Blackhawk]

The faces on those dice are improperly arranged. Are you attempting to cheat fate?

[Isgrimnur]

Somebody is.

[Jeff V]

My kids finally got boosted after the previous vaccine was yanked the day before they were scheduled. I still need to get my 4th shot, the clinic the kid went to only does Pfizer, and I've been getting Moderna. I didn't think it mattered for the boosters, but I guess it still does

[Unagi]

My four shots were
Moderna x3
Pfizer x1

And I was assured this was fine.

[Isgrimnur]

You've got outs for 4-of-a-kind or a full house.

[Smoove_B]

I'm well aware no one cares, but soon you can once again request free tests from the government, mailed via the USPS:

The White House now plans to announce that it’s reopening access to its stockpile of tests for a limited time as part of a broader “winter preparedness plan” it will roll out on Thursday.

Households will be then able to request the tests from COVIDTests.gov starting Thursday, too.

I suppose if they ship quick and can actually prevent some holiday gatherings from becoming problematic, that's a good thing.

[Kraken]

I should pick up some new ones while they're free. My large stockpile is getting old. I'm sure some of them are past even their extended expiry dates.

Those dates were best-guesses, since we had no data on how long home covid tests would last. The reagents are the perishable component. I read that as long as your test shows a clear, bold Control line, the reagents are fine and the test should be valid regardless of age. Likewise, if that C line is faint or absent the test isn't trustworthy.

[Blackhawk]

Awesome. I was just fretting about the dates on our existing tests, too.

[LordMortis]

I'm well aware no one cares, but soon you can once again request free tests from the government, mailed via the USPS:

The White House now plans to announce that it’s reopening access to its stockpile of tests for a limited time as part of a broader “winter preparedness plan” it will roll out on Thursday.

Households will be then able to request the tests from COVIDTests.gov starting Thursday, too.

I suppose if they ship quick and can actually prevent some holiday gatherings from becoming problematic, that's a good thing.

Not at the start of business

Ordering through the free at-home test program was suspended on Friday, September 2 because Congress hasn’t provided additional funding to replenish the nation’s stockpile of tests.

[Smoove_B]

Working now; indicating they'll ship starting the week of 12/19.

[Zaxxon]

Working now; indicating they'll ship starting the week of 12/19.

Same.

[LordMortis]

Still get the same message. You at https://www.covid.gov/tests ? As Politico bit links to or you going somewhere else?

[Smoove_B]

Yes. And there's a button ~1/3 of the way down that goes to here:

https://special.usps.com/testkits

[Zaxxon]

Yep, that's where I ordered.

[LordMortis]

And working now. 1 per household. I got 1 last year. I ordered anyway. We'll see what happens.

[Jaymon]

Me and us got the bivalent last Friday. This time it only got me sick for half a day, so thats progress. So we are up to date now.


Well most of us. My evil X is an anti vaxer, so my daughter has no shots, and has covid at least once. Probably more, I don't think they would tell me any more, because I went off the freaking rails at them last time.

[The Meal]

Yes. And there's a button ~1/3 of the way down that goes to here:

https://special.usps.com/testkits

Appreciated!

[dbt1949]

I got my covid shots by the VA and they gave me a couple of cards. Problem is no where on the cards does it say they're for covid. Had a little trouble with a civilian doctor but they ended up taking my word for it.

[gbasden]

Me and us got the bivalent last Friday. This time it only got me sick for half a day, so thats progress. So we are up to date now.


Well most of us. My evil X is an anti vaxer, so my daughter has no shots, and has covid at least once. Probably more, I don't think they would tell me any more, because I went off the freaking rails at them last time.

Damned good reason to be an ex.

[LordMortis]

My parents and I are now pretty much the last of people I know who have yet to get COVID. That's just amazing to me. The two old coworkers I know who had escaped up until now were the reason lunch with my old coworkers was cancelled today. They both presented with COVID this past weekend. Guess I may have dodged the last bullet in the chamber before the reload.

What's strange to me is that 3 in 10 people in Michigan have had COVID and this factors in that with multiple cases, we could be more than 10 in 10. And yet even the more careful people I know and regularly talk to have all had COVID. All of them, except me, mom, and dad.

[Zaxxon]

3 in 10 people in Michigan have had COVID

Lol.

[LordMortis]

3 in 10 people in Michigan have had COVID

Lol.

K. 3 in 10 people in Michigan have had COVID and either were in trouble enough to need medical care or presented with symptoms and bothered enough to get it diagnosed professionally. Honestly, if you're not presenting with reasonable illness, I can't blame you for not getting diagnosed. That said, I don't know of anyone who tested for generic purposes, and then went "hey, look at that, I have antibodies. I guess I had COVID." They've all gone down bad enough to go "maybe I should get tested and figure this out."

Also, I know enough people who have had COVID twice that the three of us inclusive, we're easily 11 in 10.

[Zaxxon]

My wife and I, along with one of our kids, are also in the 'officially dodged it so far' camp. But I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that at least one of us had an asymptomatic case.

[stessier]

My wife and I, along with one of our kids, are also in the 'officially dodged it so far' camp. But I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that at least one of us had an asymptomatic case.

My wife, my two kids, and I are the only ones in our area that we don't think have had it (and we've tested every time someone had a sniffle). My brother, his wife, and kids in Indiana are the only other family members we know that are apparently untouched.

[ImLawBoy]

I have to go to Dallas for 4 days/3 nights in December for my employer's legal conference (first in-person one since the Before Times). There will be hundreds of us there, and I'll be one of probably only a handful of people wearing a mask. I won't be able to avoid things like dinners, though, and I suspect that will be my downfall.

Got home Wednesday night and so far so good. As suspected there were very few mask wearers, but I kept mine on unless I was eating or in my hotel room. I know at least a coupe of people tested positive after the conference (including one I interacted with), but I seem to have made it through (unless it's still lurking in me ready to burst out).

[Blackhawk]

[FishPants]

So the entire team of people from my company that went to AWS ReInvent in vegas got Covid except for me; as well as the entire AWS Sales team that was managing the conference experience for everyone, dinners, blah blah blah. Guess my recent second round of Covid 7 days after my bivalent vaccine has left me with adequate coverage.

Oh and there were a number of random physical assaults on our staff while walking the strip in the early evening by crazy method out homeless. I think I might not be back in Vegas for a very long time!

[Blackhawk]

I'm well aware no one cares, but soon you can once again request free tests from the government, mailed via the USPS:

The White House now plans to announce that it’s reopening access to its stockpile of tests for a limited time as part of a broader “winter preparedness plan” it will roll out on Thursday.

Households will be then able to request the tests from COVIDTests.gov starting Thursday, too.

I suppose if they ship quick and can actually prevent some holiday gatherings from becoming problematic, that's a good thing.

Mine arrived on the porch this morning. I'm not good at math, so I'll just assume that -7° is between 35.6° and 86°.

[Blackhawk]

Actually, isn't this the second time that they've sent out masses of COVID tests, and the second time that they arrived in the middle of a huge cold snap?

It's a conspiracy!

/edit - you'd think there could be a way for the USPS to flag these deliveries to be automatically held back if the temperature is supposed to be this cold.

[rittchard]

My parents and I are now pretty much the last of people I know who have yet to get COVID. That's just amazing to me. The two old coworkers I know who had escaped up until now were the reason lunch with my old coworkers was cancelled today. They both presented with COVID this past weekend. Guess I may have dodged the last bullet in the chamber before the reload.

Hey LM, don't let your guard down or let up on whatever it is you've been doing. I was in the same boat as you a few weeks ago, pretty much me, my partner and my parents were the only people I was around that I was aware of who hadn't had COVID. I got a weird cough and tested negative for both covid and flu, so we chalked it up to the generic "bronchitis." A few days later my partner was complaining about a guy at his work who had covid and I was like uhhh just stay away from him. A day or two later my partner had symptoms and tested positive. He claimed he had only spent maybe 10 minutes in the same room with the other guy - but unmasked... I was fine for about 4 days, my cough was subsiding and I had no additional symptoms, but then suddenly my cough came back and it was worse and different and I was like ruh roh. Sure enough I tested positive the next day too. My symptoms never got horrible but it's still a pain in the butt combined with other health issues and other things going on. I had to cancel a trip to take my parents to Vegas which they were really looking forward to, so I felt bad about that. Now I'm wondering if it's even safe to spend Christmas with my family.

Moral of the story: don't get overconfident, the recent strain seems extremely easy to transmit (I should note we were both double boosterized so so much for that)

[stessier]

My wife and I, along with one of our kids, are also in the 'officially dodged it so far' camp. But I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that at least one of us had an asymptomatic case.

My wife, my two kids, and I are the only ones in our area that we don't think have had it (and we've tested every time someone had a sniffle). My brother, his wife, and kids in Indiana are the only other family members we know that are apparently untouched.

Well that didn't last long. Despite my suggestion that she skip it, my wife went to her company's Christmas party on Wednesday. Boss tested positive on Thursday - unfortunately my wife sat next to her the entire time. Wife is positive today. Fortunately feels pretty good - just some sniffles. But now the rest of the family is each in their own room for a few days to see how the rest of us do. Merry Christmas?