Covid-19 Updates & Info

[ponchi101]

And one of my favorite comics nails it:
https://xkcd.com/2557

[Jeff from TX]

Sorry to have been absent for awhile, but at the beginning of December I got COVID (I assume Delta) - the week I was supposed to get my booster shot. I assumed it was the flu since my rapid test came back negative but a later test confirmed COVID. Fever for almost 10 days, lots of fatigue, slight cough but no real respiratory issues fortunately. Thankfully, I had finished my preceptorship hours so my graduation was not affected. Graduated Dec. 15th with my nursing degree.

[ponchi101]

Sorry to have been absent for awhile, but at the beginning of December I go COVID (I assume Delta) - the week I was supposed to get my booster shot. I assumed it was the flu since my rapid test came back negative but a later test confirmed COVID. Fever for almost 10 days, lots of fatigue, slight cough but no real respiratory issues fortunately. Thankfully, I had finished my preceptorship hours so my graduation was affected. Graduated Dec. 15th with my nursing degree.

First, glad you are back and that C19 did not affect you badly. Keep us posted on how you feel and possible effects later (I hope there are none) as we can learn from your experience. I believe we all will have a date with Omicron eventually, so any advice from you would be priceless.
And second, CONGRATS on that degree! I wish you all the best in your professional life

[MJ2004]

I’m at the airport terminal surrounded by people who are sniffling and coughing. If the double mask doesn’t hold it off, my date will be sooner rather than later. Unfortunately just in time for Christmas.

Sorry Jeff that happened to you. It sounds terrible. Glad you’re recovered now. Congrats on graduating - what a wonderful accomplishment!

[ti-amie]

Sorry to have been absent for awhile, but at the beginning of December I go COVID (I assume Delta) - the week I was supposed to get my booster shot. I assumed it was the flu since my rapid test came back negative but a later test confirmed COVID. Fever for almost 10 days, lots of fatigue, slight cough but no real respiratory issues fortunately. Thankfully, I had finished my preceptorship hours so my graduation was affected. Graduated Dec. 15th with my nursing degree.

I'm so sorry to hear you were so ill!

CONGRATULATIONS to you for receiving your degree!

[ti-amie]

That guy with his arms crossed in defiance perfectly captures the attitude of the folks inside.

[ti-amie]

So we just found this out.

A friend of my daughter just found out that on Monday her son was exposed to the virus. A kid he hangs out with was sick on Monday. They share a lunch table. The mother, my daughter's friend, just found out today. Her husband is a cancer survivor and immunocompromised.

Her son had a tummy ache today and was told by the school nurse he was exposed. No notice was sent to parents about the child who showed up sick on Monday. Her son just went to take a test.

What is wrong with people?

[JazzNU]

Sorry to have been absent for awhile, but at the beginning of December I got COVID (I assume Delta) - the week I was supposed to get my booster shot. I assumed it was the flu since my rapid test came back negative but a later test confirmed COVID. Fever for almost 10 days, lots of fatigue, slight cough but no real respiratory issues fortunately. Thankfully, I had finished my preceptorship hours so my graduation was not affected. Graduated Dec. 15th with my nursing degree.

So happy to hear you had more minor symptoms and are doing better.

Congrats on getting your nursing degree, I know you've been working hard for it. Hope your bout with covid didn't dim your celebration of this achievement too much.

[JazzNU]

FWIW, I've started using a KF94 mask as of last week for greater protection when I'm out and about with omicron raging. They are similar to the KN95, just slightly different design and from Korea (with tighter production controls). I like them a lot. I haven't double masked since getting vaccinated, but prefer this greatly to double masking, which for me, was slightly harder to breathe in, made my face hot, and was a real setback with my glasses fogging up.

[JazzNU]

Pfizer pill becomes 1st US-authorized home COVID treatment

By MATTHEW PERRONE


WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health regulators on Wednesday authorized the first pill against COVID-19, a Pfizer drug that Americans will be able to take at home to head off the worst effects of the virus.

The long-awaited milestone comes as U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all rising and health officials warn of a tsunami of new infections from the omicron variant that could overwhelm hospitals.

The drug, Paxlovid, is a faster way to treat early COVID-19 infections, though initial supplies will be extremely limited. All of the previously authorized drugs against the disease require an IV or an injection.

An antiviral pill from Merck also is expected to soon win authorization. But Pfizer’s drug is all but certain to be the preferred option because of its mild side effects and superior effectiveness, including a nearly 90% reduction in hospitalizations and deaths among patients most likely to get severe disease.

“The efficacy is high, the side effects are low and it’s oral. It checks all the boxes,” said Dr. Gregory Poland of the Mayo Clinic. “You’re looking at a 90% decreased risk of hospitalization and death in a high-risk group — that’s stunning.”

The Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer’s drug for adults and children ages 12 and older with a positive COVID-19 test and early symptoms who face the highest risks of hospitalization. That includes older people and those with conditions like obesity and heart disease, though the drug is not recommended for patients with severe kidney or liver problems. Children eligible for the drug must weigh at least 88 pounds (40 kilograms).

The pills from both Pfizer and Merck are expected to be effective against omicron because they don’t target the spike protein where most of the variant’s worrisome mutations reside.

Pfizer currently has 180,000 treatment courses available worldwide, with roughly 60,000 to 70,000 allocated to the U.S. The company said it expects to have 250,000 available in the U.S. by the end of January.

Federal health officials are expected to ration early shipments to the hardest hit parts of the country. Pfizer said the small supply is due to the manufacturing time — currently about nine months. The company says it can halve production time next year.

The U.S. government has agreed to purchase enough Paxlovid to treat 10 million people, and it will be provided free to patients. Pfizer says it’s on track to produce 80 million courses globally next year, under contracts with the U.K., Australia and other nations.

President Joe Biden said the pill marks a “significant step forward in our path out of the pandemic” and said his administration will work with states to ensure equitable distribution.

Health experts agree that vaccination remains the best way to protect against COVID-19. But with roughly 40 million American adults still unvaccinated, effective drugs will be critical to blunting the current and future waves of infection.

The U.S. is now reporting more than 140,000 new infections daily and federal officials warn that the omicron variant could send case counts soaring. Omicron has already whipped across the country to become the dominant strain, federal officials confirmed earlier this week.

Against that backdrop, experts warn that Paxlovid’s initial impact could be limited.

For more than a year, biotech-engineered antibody drugs have been the go-to treatments for COVID-19. But they are expensive, hard to produce and require an injection or infusion, typically given at a hospital or clinic. Also, laboratory testing suggests the two leading antibody drugs used in the U.S. aren’t effective against omicron.

Pfizer’s pill comes with its own challenges.

Patients will need a positive COVID-19 test to get a prescription. And Paxlovid has only proven effective if given within five days of symptoms appearing. With testing supplies stretched, experts worry it may be unrealistic for patients to self-diagnose, get tested, see a physician and pick up a prescription within that narrow window.

“If you go outside that window of time I fully expect the effectiveness of this drug is going to fall,” said Andrew Pekosz, a Johns Hopkins University virologist.

The FDA based its decision on company results from a 2,250-patient trial that showed the pill cut hospitalizations and deaths by 89% when given to people with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 within three days of symptoms. Less than 1% of patients taking the drug were hospitalized and none died at the end of the 30-day study period, compared with 6.5% of patients hospitalized in the group getting a dummy pill, which included nine deaths.

Pfizer’s drug is part of a decades-old family of antiviral drugs known as protease inhibitors, which revolutionized the treatment of HIV and hepatitis C. The drugs block a key enzyme which viruses need to multiply in the human body.

The U.S. will pay about $500 for each course of Pfizer’s treatment, which consists of three pills taken twice a day for five days. Two of the pills are Paxlovid and the third is a different antiviral that helps boost levels of the main drug in the body.

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus- ... _medium=AP

[ti-amie]

I was thinking today about how much damage Tiny and his people did early on. They made it seem that if you were young, in good shape, and not brown, black or yellow you wouldn't be in too much danger. That message took hold and that is why so many have been ignoring sound medical advice.

Don't get me wrong. As we see there are a lot of non white people who have gone for the okey-doke with consequences that are only now becoming clear. I have family members who have been going to concerts and hanging out with no concern about anything happening to them. Tiny had one chance to do something right and being who he is he blew it. I'm sure the virus is already mutating into some new Greek letter designation that a country like South Africa will find before scientists do here.

It's hard to see that so many have been led astray - by people who are vaccinated.

It's really a shame what is happening now.

[dryrunguy]

My issue with it has always been that the "I'm young and healthy, so I don't need to worry and don't need to be vaccinated" argument is never predicated on the qualifier that should follow it, if you're going to go there: "But I'm going to do everything I can to avoid contact with more vulnerable populations to reduce THEIR risk of exposure from me." Which immediately renders it an intellectually lazy and socially irresponsible stance.

But when it's all said and done, people just don't care.

They just don't care.

[Deuce]

.

It's difficult - but necessary - to maintain a balanced perspective...
This is quite interesting...

WHO Says Booster Programs Will Prolong the Pandemic

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[mmmm8]

Jeff - huge congrats on your degree!

[JazzNU]

I was thinking today about how much damage Tiny and his people did early on. They made it seem that if you were young, in good shape, and not brown, black or yellow you wouldn't be in too much danger. That message took hold and that is why so many have been ignoring sound medical advice.

For months now, since Delta has been a larger concern in the US, it has seemed as if white people were told a secret that the rest of us weren't let in on because the less diverse the area, the less masks being worn around this region as if they had nothing at all to worry about. I can't count the number of stores I've been in the last 4 months where almost every minority has been wearing a mask and almost every white adult is not, with the exception of employees. Mild uptick of masks in November, and a greater one in the last 2 weeks.

My favorite are the senior citizens and young children that are maskless. I don't it. And this is an area that was universally masked earlier in the year, it was never a battle here. Definitely seems like they are privy to some information that I'm not that gives them quite a bit of confidence.