KSera
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Posts posted by KSera
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On 8/15/2021 at 5:40 PM, lauraw4321 said:
Sometimes emails work. The board sent this email reversing the “opt out” mask policy. I had a lot of emails with school board members, and I for once feel like it made a difference. quoted below:
If you believe that your student should be exempt from these procedures due to medical, health, or ability concerns, please provide documentation of the grounds supporting your exemption to your school principal. The school will work with the MCS administration to evaluate each such request. MCS will consult materials available to it from the ADPH and the AAP to evaluate each request.
Again, I want to emphasize that in-person learning is our main focus this year, but, in order to ensure safety, we must adhere to our MCS policies. Since the start of this school year, our staff has tried to accommodate and work with parents concerning the mask requirement. However, beginning tomorrow, the only students allowed in a regular class setting will be those that are masked or have been given an exemption via an IEP or 504 plan.
Fantastic update! Way to go you, for writing all those emails!
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2 hours ago, Arcadia said:
Usually it keeps the content that you have already typed if the forum suddenly hung. You just need to click on the reply box again to restore the contents.
It’s eaten two of my replies today. The most recent was regarding the stomach bug transmission and when I went to try again, it did not restore my continent. No matter, because @popmomsaid pretty much everything I had said in my post (except that yikes, if there’s a new stomach bug that is airborne, I’m never going to stop masking 😱).
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2 hours ago, lewelma said:
Police commissioner has stated that they will prosecute anyone who gathers. And have already dispersed a crowd of 100 protesters last night.
It made me laugh when he was pressed by the reporter about what they would do about people who don't follow the rules, and he said "we've got this." And that was the end of the question. The press was like, OK.
Really, it seems like a vast majority of people are behind this, including the press and the opposition leader. We have had 15 months of freedom that we want back. So like let's get this thing done. I am looking down at the three busiest streets in Wellington and there are 3 cars on the 9 lanes that I can see from my house on the hill.
I’m rooting hard for you guys!
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48 minutes ago, Bootsie said:
A family member in her earlys 40s has COVID. She was fully vaccinated with Pfizer this spring.
A young (under 12) relative who is living with them was sick first--probably got COVID at a church camp. Then her own daughter (also under 12) got COVID, and now she has it. She said so far she has felt mostly tired but nothing too bad.
I haven’t seen anything yet about the most common index case in breakthrough Delta infections, but with the people I know, it keeps being the unvaccinated kids who are the index cases. Would be interesting to know just how common that pattern is.
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2 hours ago, annandatje said:
I, too, got my 3rd dose of Pfizer yesterday (Monday) at my local Walgreens. Walgreens turned away two older ladies for their 3rd booster because they did NOT have any of the conditions listed on the form. Unfortunately I have two of the conditions/ongoing treatments listed on form.
The ladies who did not qualify had hypertension and controlled diabetes.
Hopefully they will open it to hypertension and diabetes soon. I read a recent study listing those as two of the most common comorbidities for people with breakthrough infections (hypertension was the most common). I’ve wondered if the reason they haven’t been including those is because so many Americans have one or both of those conditions (especially hypertension) that it would basically open it up to half of all adults.
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2 hours ago, mommyoffive said:
One thing that struck me about the data from the pediatric Covid study that came out yesterday is that it was from the second half of 2020, way before Delta. I expect the household attack rate is going to look even worse now.
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This was tradition for my team sport when I was in high school, except it was like 4 or 5 am. Fortunately, my mom hated the surprise aspect and told me the night before, so I got up extra early, made myself presentable, and got back in bed to wait. I would have been miserable had it happened as a surprise. There was hazing involved in mine as well. The seniors would choose the freshman’s clothes and make them look really stupid—usually underwear worn on top of clothes was involved, but I was a hard no on that and flatly refused. I did wear the other dumb stuff. Then they took us around and made us serenade people on our knees in the grocery store, and that kind of thing. I was actually okay with the rest of it, but it didn’t create any bonding with the others involved, and I would rather have skipped it. The secret Santa kind of things we did on event days were a lot better for bonding, in my opinion.
I was also surprised no mention of Covid. We don’t even have anyone else come inside our house or ride in cars with others right now. I’m assuming this will all be done with no masks?
I’d let my kid know and then come up with a workable plan. I would question the coach’s judgement though.
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I’m noticing that it sounds like those eligible for a third shot didn’t tend to have side effects from either of the first two. That’s interesting to me. I hope this third one gives everyone excellent, lasting immunity.
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1 hour ago, TCB said:
If you actually click on the links they use, they say completely different and contradictory things to the commentary.
I see a lot of this. People share a link to something they say supports xyz, but if you actually read the thing they link to, you find it doesn’t say that at all. I don’t know if they don’t actually read the links they share, or if they’re just not understanding what they’re reading.
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On 8/15/2021 at 10:12 AM, kbutton said:
I decided to try BeHealthy again, and I can order a ten pack there, but I still cannot order a mix and match package to my cart. I select all the masks, and then it won't transfer to the cart. It goes in circles.
I got an email from BeHealthy today with an apology and coupon code for running behind and having things go out of stock. They said they had had unprecedented demand in the last couple weeks, and expect to be all caught up and things all restocked within two weeks.
For people still looking, Aaron Collins just put out a special video all about kids' masks and has made a separate spread sheet with the data for the kids' ones all in one place. I usually am not a video watcher, but this one he put out was worth it for people wanting to get up to speed on the different kinds of masks and how to make sure they fit. I sent it to my family members. I thought it did an especially good job explaining in a clear way why sometimes more layers (like a multilayer cloth mask with a filter added) can end up performing worse than one that is easier to breathe in, made just of really good filter media.
Mask data and sources: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i06OAItoOwIUaMjElr8mhh0Rw-it6WL-ODIQMZUOQxE/edit#gid=0
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Is there a list anywhere keeping track of what universities have what requirements and then that will track how it’s going? I am very eager to know how it goes for the schools that start with a fully vaccinated campus and those that start fully vaccinated plus masks. Really, really hoping that those measures allow for a safe year in person.
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2 hours ago, ScoutTN said:
I wonder what percentage of people, in our various countries, have underlying/pre-existing health conditions?
In the US, I’ve seen estimates ranging from 40-60%. I think we have some decent numbers for each individual condition, but then it’s hard to know how many are comorbid. If 40% are overweight and 40% have hypertension, it doesn’t mean 80% have those two total. Nor would it be only 40%.
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5 hours ago, kokotg said:
But the studies I've seen DO show lower numbers in schools with mask mandates, despite the difficulties with enforcement/compliance. I've also watched numbers carefully in counties near me with and without mask mandates, and the difference is stark. I'm interested/terrified to see if it holds up this year with Delta, but last year everywhere I could find evidence, mask mandates made a HUGE difference--bigger than I expected at the beginning of the year.
All the epidemiologists I read say the same. Universal masking in schools is expected to make a significant difference in how we get through this Delta wave as schools start. They have pretty depressing predictions of what the pediatric ICU bed situation will be without masking, especially for those too young to be vaccinated.
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7 minutes ago, heartlikealion said:
Ugh. I’ve always been terrified of the tests. I hope they are much better than the videos I saw in the beginning, especially the ones that did both nostrils!
The home ones and even our local drive through PCR site are easy, just the nostril types. I did one on my 4 year old and he squirmed a bit because I did the full 15 seconds per nostril, but it wasn’t at all painful and it was fine. I would do it again if necessary.
4 minutes ago, Danae said:I’ve had nine total, four different kinds. They’re weird and awkward, but nothing to be terrified of.
Besides the home one on my little one, my adult kids have had several kinds, including the high swab. They didn’t even find that to be an issue. One didn’t mind one bit and the other said it was briefly uncomfortable, but that’s all. I expect people’s anatomy might differ slightly in that area.
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1 hour ago, Janeway said:
Yes, but there was a study on the CDC website that said that the cloth masks can aerosol the large droplets, making them more contagious.
That was a study that wasn’t even designed to test which kind of masks worked better. It was a study to test a method for testing masks. They had one mask, a single layer polyester gaiter that had an unexpected result. (I don’t think people should be trying to have a single layer gaiter pass has a mask anyway, but that’s not the point.) It has not been replicated by anyone else. Multiple, multiple statements have been put out explaining that the study does not say what many people are trying to claim it says.
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4 minutes ago, Minerva said:
I had shingles on my face for the first time this year. I woke in the morning with what felt like a bad sunburn on one side of my face. When I went to the urgent care they gave me antiviral and told me it was a good thing I came in before I had blisters because the antiviral works best when taken early. I took the antiviral and in one day the pain subsided. I am not sure why they told you to wait.
Here is a link to the CDC's recommendations which say the same thing that the doctor told me at urgent care.
I hope it passes quickly!
Based on what I’ve seen with multiple family members who have had it with and without the antiviral, I would take it before blisters to be on the safe side. I don’t like taking medications, but I wouldn’t want to take the risk of being too late for the antiviral to work. Those that have taken it in time have had a very easy course of it. I hope you feel better soon!
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Can you handle an N95 for what you need masks for? The 3M Aura 9205+ is excellent for not fogging glasses. Otherwise, a KF94 might be your best option. I have only had some glasses fogging outside in very cold weather with one of those.
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1 hour ago, happi duck said:
Our church has been very cautious (yay!) and recently returned to in person service in addition to Zoom.
Masks are required indoors. Readers unmask to read and the priest unmasks for the sermon (6ft. distance). I wish there wasn't singing but it is masked and I plan to stay in back.
The only thing giving me pause: Because ASL needs facial expression, the interpreter is unmasked for the whole service. I'm assuming she's vaccinated. I'm assuming she would stay home if ill. If she were asymptomatic could she greatly spread covid?
I feel stupid asking so please be gentle with me.
I'm high risk and my family has had too many catastrophes to be risky.
I’m not personally okay with that scenario with Delta, but the unmasked priest and the singing would be the bigger issue. Talking produces a lot of aerosols, so I would expect the unmasked sermon to be more problematic than the unmasked, but silent, interpreter.
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11 hours ago, PeterPan said:
.Apparently this is more about emotions or politics than science, because I see people VOLUNTARILY wearing a mask in my state and then showing up with it half on, half off, pitiful worthless materials, on and on.
That has nothing to do with this being about emotions and not science, that has to do with not everyone doing things the way they should, often due to lack of information or understanding. Do we say seatbelts don’t work because some people put them under their arm or behind their shoulder?
11 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:Aaron Collins is a mechanical engineer who wrote his master’s thesis on aerosols who set up a home aerosol lab to test filtering on masks off the shelf. He has a YouTube channel and somewhere he has a Google doc with his spreadsheet results, but I am not finding the link offhand.
Here’s his spreadsheet:
He just updated tonight with more kids’ masks he just tested.
3 hours ago, Janeway said:I think the only reason illnesses might go down with mask use is the other things a mask user is more likely to do and not do when wearing a mask. When a person wears a mask, they’re less likely to touch their face and they’re less likely to hang on someone. they are more likely to wash their hands and be mindful of the things that they need to do to not spread disease. and on the occasion that they would sneeze or cough, it actually does get caught into the mask. but I know that the virus can get through masks. If I can smell perfume on people while I’m wearing mask then I can definitely get the virus through the mask. and every single person I have known to get a serious case of Covid were people who were only around others while wearing masks.
Nevermind.
eta: OP, the one thing I agree with your dh on is you’re probably over catastrophizing about kids. Yes, it’s bad. Yes, kids are going to continue to be hospitalized and die and I expect it’s going to get worse and it doesn’t have to be this way and it’s horrible. However, I don’t think it’s likely that you’re going to know multiple kids who die of Covid. It seems more likely you won’t know any. That doesn’t make it any less terrible, it’s just the odds are probably not as bad for you personally as you are thinking they are.
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3 hours ago, Melissa Louise said:
Well, sure. And the media is complicit in the blame narrative, and so is everyone who comforts themselves with 'oh, but he/she had an underlying condition'.
It's important info at a public health level. It doesn't need sharing with the general public.
I think we see this one differently. For some reason for me, this information is helpful when it comes to vaccinated cases in a way that it isn’t when it comes to infections in general. I really bristle at the way people seem to brush off Covid because they think it only effects people with preexisting conditions, as if those people don’t matter, and with the assumption that they would never be one of those. In the case of breakthrough infection deaths, it somehow seems helpful to me to know that most of those are happening in very ill people. Not because it matters less, but because I fear people would not get vaccinated if they they don’t have that context. If it turns out breakthrough deaths become equally common in people with no known risk factors, people may need to make different calculations. My vaccinated college kids will go to class in person for the first time since March 2020, on vaccine mandated and mask required campuses and because of my vaccine, I feel okay with them continuing to come home, despite my pre-existing condition. If we start seeing that breakthrough deaths are not uncommon in people like me, we may need to change that. So for me, the information actually is news I can use.
3 hours ago, ktgrok said:MegaCon is going on now in Orlando. 100,000 people expected. In freaking Florida with full hospitals and some of the highest rates of Covid in the freaking world. 100K people all together, sharing hotel rooms, etc. Masks are required, but of course not when eating/drinking/etc. And who knows how well that will be enforced anyway. UGH. I guess in a week or two I can look for our rates to go up even more - or maybe it's mostly tourists who will take it home. Ugh.
As in an actual indoor convention?? The mind boggles!
2 hours ago, Terabith said:Plus Sturgis is going on. Sigh.
I’ve been reading about how Sturgis is actually going to be an interesting case study. They have such a high rate of their population with antibodies at this point, it will be interesting, in a clinical way, to see if this year’s event does or doesn’t have a similar impact as last year‘s. Dearly hope all those with antibodies from previous infection hold up. So far, SD had not been as hard-hit in this Delta wave due to the high price they paid the last time around.
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1 hour ago, ktgrok said:
How does that make sense? My understanding is there is only emergency use authorization for antibody treatment for Covid, so why are people okay with that?
I don’t believe there’s any logic to it. They’ve heard that antibody treatment is the one they are supposed to be in favor of and vaccines the one they’re supposed to be against, so that’s what they are. I expect it probably helps that the former president got the antibody treatment and likely had his life likely saved by it. Unfortunately, by the time it was public knowledge that he had also gotten the vaccine, I think anti vax people were already entrenched in their views. I would want myself or any family members who became ill to have the opportunity to get the antibody treatment as well, I just think it would’ve been so much more helpful if it had been made clear just how sick he was and how people should get vaccinated so that doesn’t happen to them. Instead, I think people felt further supported in their “no big deal” view.
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34 minutes ago, ktgrok said:
I'd say that if there was a shortage of vaccine in an area - but here that is not the case. Places in some areas are going to be stuck with expired vaccines. Better they go in arms than the trash.
This is so sad. For an area with as many sick and dying people as Florida to be having to throw away the vaccine that could have saved most of them because they were convinced by bad actors they didn’t want it 😭.
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3 minutes ago, Catwoman said:
My dh had J&J, and his doctors just told him on Friday that he should get either Pfizer or Moderna as his booster.
I’m glad he gets to be boosted with one of those. I expect it will be some relief for both of you to have that on board.
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50 minutes ago, SKL said:
About high education and vaccine hesitancy - it depends on what you mean by hesitant.
For these particular surveys, the questions have to do specifically with the Covid19 vaccine.
Regeneron
in The Chat Board
Posted
I didn’t see the lies you’re referring to (unless you mean the post where someone said regeneron is costly and not available to everyone? Which, both statements are true.), but thanks for starting this thread. Regeneron is one of the few medications with good evidence of benefit early in the course of disease, and I’d like to see more people be able to get it when needed.
The topic of people being unwilling to be vaccinated because EUA, but wanting regeneron and everything and anything available to save their life once they become ill reminds me of this op-Ed letter from a Covid unit doctor I read this morning. This is the same scenario she describes. It’s a sad story.
https://news.yahoo.com/op-ed-doctor-covid-unit-162841532.html
“This was a common excuse people gave for not getting vaccinated, fearing the vaccine because the Food and Drug Administration had only granted it emergency-use authorization so far, not permanent approval. Yet the treatments he had turned to, antibiotics, monoclonal antibodies and hydroxychloroquine were considered experimental, with mixed evidence to support their use.
The only proven lifesaver we’ve had in this pandemic is a vaccine that many people don’t want. A vaccine we give away to other countries because supply overwhelms demand in the U.S. A vaccine people in other countries stand in line for hours to receive, if they can get it at all.
“Well," I said, “I am going to treat you with, remdesivir, which only recently received FDA approval.” I explained that it had been under an EUA for most of last year and had not been studied or administered as widely as COVID-19 vaccines. That more than 353 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in the U.S. along with more than 4.7 billion doses worldwide without any overwhelming, catastrophic side effects. “Not nearly as many doses of remdesivir have been given or studied in people and its long-term side effects are still unknown,” I said. “Do you still want me to give it to you?”
“Yes” he responded, “Whatever it takes to save my life.”
It did not work.