wuhan - coronavirus

[kbutton]

On 9/19/2022 at 5:41 AM, Ausmumof3 said:

ABC also had this today. It’s interesting seeing this finally hit more mainstream media a bit. I kind of hope long term it’s wrong because I know so few people that haven’t had covid yet and I hate to think of them all having some level of long term immune issues. Plus I’m sure we won’t avoid it forever. Maybe it will be somewhat of a temporary effect if it’s a thing and next year will be better.

I think it will be temporary like after the measles, but if people keep getting Covid over and over, who knows if it will kind of reset the clock each time?

On 9/19/2022 at 8:35 AM, Faith-manor said:

Agreed. Here it seems like the kids have all had measles. My mom re!embers when her fifth grade class came down with measles. She said for two years, she and her classmates were constantly sick with everything under the sun. No immunity at all, and this is the same phenomenon being reported by local teachers who are willing to speak up against the covid is no big deal people. Tons and tons of absences the past year and half from kids who had covid.

Yep. Measles knocks out the immune system for about two years.

There is a reason people my parents' age talk about getting measles and THEN a list of other illnesses. The list always begins with measles. Sometimes the list is followed by, "The doctor wasn't sure I was going to make it out of childhood" even if the child in question wasn't hospitalized--said kid was often sickly for years. 

[bookbard]

8 hours ago, Spryte said:

Oh no. Is this the man who knitted the adorable sweaters for injured penguins? 

 

No, that guy died before the pandemic. 

[bookbard]

Good overview of flu vs covid in Australia. Keep in mind we had very high flu numbers this year, partly due to increased testing.

 

[Ausmumof3]

Weekly numbers are starting to come in. NSW and QLD down, VIC up.

 

internationally UK hospitalisations are up 20pc - not sure what’s with that.

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/covid-complications-push-australian-deaths-to-highest-number-in-40-years-20220921-p5bjtm.html
 

Pretty bleak stats on death rates in the first quarter of this year for Australia.

The alarm has been sounded about COVID-19’s hidden impact as new data shows that the highest number of people have died in the March quarter of 2022 than in any of the past 41 years.

Australian Bureau of Statistics population data published on Wednesday shows an 18 per cent increase in deaths in the quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, rising from 36,100 to 46,200 deaths.

 

It is the first time that more than 40,000 deaths were recorded over four consecutive quarters.

[bookbard]

My poor nephew who was hospitalised about a month after covid is really sick again (vomiting, fevers). Really hope they're able to get on top of it all. 

2 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

It is the first time that more than 40,000 deaths were recorded over four consecutive quarters.

It's so shocking. I wonder how long it will take the average person to relate these deaths to covid, however? It still feels so invisible to most people. 

[Ausmumof3]

2 hours ago, bookbard said:

My poor nephew who was hospitalised about a month after covid is really sick again (vomiting, fevers). Really hope they're able to get on top of it all. 

It's so shocking. I wonder how long it will take the average person to relate these deaths to covid, however? It still feels so invisible to most people. 

Is he young or older? One of my tutor kids has been to hospital multiple times for stomach issues and not eating. I didn’t have her long before Covid to know what’s normal for her but I worry that it’s related. Unless medical people connect the dots I think most people won’t. There’s been far worse outcomes in UK and Europe and it’s still dismissed by many people. 

[Ausmumof3]

Our cases and hospitalisations were down slightly this week. Because they’re only counting five days now, I’m assuming that drops hospitalisation somewhat anyway, even if there’s no actual change. 

[bookbard]

2 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Is he young or older?

Three. Doesn't go to preschool or anything. 

[Ausmumof3]

6 hours ago, bookbard said:

Three. Doesn't go to preschool or anything. 

Poor baby 😞 

[Corraleno]

8 hours ago, bookbard said:

It's so shocking. I wonder how long it will take the average person to relate these deaths to covid, however? It still feels so invisible to most people. 

5 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Unless medical people connect the dots I think most people won’t. There’s been far worse outcomes in UK and Europe and it’s still dismissed by many people. 

It's worse than invisible — anti-vaxxers are already pushing the narrative that the spike in excess deaths in Europe, which exceed deaths officially attributed to covid, are not post-acute complications of covid, but rather proof that vaccines are killing hundreds of thousands of people and the government is covering it up.

[I talk to the trees]

1 hour ago, Corraleno said:

It's worse than invisible — anti-vaxxers are already pushing the narrative that the spike in excess deaths in Europe, which exceed deaths officially attributed to covid, are not post-acute complications of covid, but rather proof that vaccines are killing hundreds of thousands of people and the government is covering it up.

Chatted with a nurse yesterday when dd went in for a tdap booster. She said that the local docs are seeing more and more unvaccinated (routine vaccines, not just Covid) little ones. She sighed a very weary sigh and said that people seem to think that polio and measles are nothing to be concerned about. 🥺 I didn’t want to cause a stink, so I cautiously asked, “Politics?” And she gave a quiet little nod. I feel so bad for HCWs. They just can’t win!

[Laura Corin]

14 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

 

 

internationally UK hospitalisations are up 20pc - not sure what’s with that.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/23/uks-autumn-covid-wave-could-be-worse-than-the-last-as-cases-rise?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

[kbutton]

5 hours ago, Corraleno said:

It's worse than invisible — anti-vaxxers are already pushing the narrative that the spike in excess deaths in Europe, which exceed deaths officially attributed to covid, are not post-acute complications of covid, but rather proof that vaccines are killing hundreds of thousands of people and the government is covering it up.

I am not hearing that, which makes me think that either I have successfully blocked enough people, or else my people have finally shut up about their conspiracy theories. 

I really don't want to see where this is going to lead, sigh.

[Corraleno]

42 minutes ago, kbutton said:

I am not hearing that, which makes me think that either I have successfully blocked enough people, or else my people have finally shut up about their conspiracy theories. 

I really don't want to see where this is going to lead, sigh.

Unfortunately it's one of the many conspiracy theories that "Doctor" John Campbell is currently pushing to his 2.5 million subscribers. He may have been sincere when he first started making covid videos in 2020 with a few thousand views each, but once he saw his numbers skyrocketing when he pushed Vit D and ivermectin, he monetized the channel and went full conspiracy nut. He currently earns millions of dollars a year pushing lies and misinformation (there's irrefutable proof that ivermectin works and governments are covering it up! ivermectin works just like paxlovid! the vaccine is more dangerous for children and pregnant women than covid is! the true covid death toll is vastly lower than the government claims!), with an added dose of martyrdom after one of his videos was removed for blatant misinformation (which of course only increased his credibility with conspiracy nuts and boosted his subscriber numbers).

[Harriet Vane]

11 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

Unfortunately it's one of the many conspiracy theories that "Doctor" John Campbell is currently pushing to his 2.5 million subscribers. He may have been sincere when he first started making covid videos in 2020 with a few thousand views each, but once he saw his numbers skyrocketing when he pushed Vit D and ivermectin, he monetized the channel and went full conspiracy nut. He currently earns millions of dollars a year pushing lies and misinformation (there's irrefutable proof that ivermectin works and governments are covering it up! ivermectin works just like paxlovid! the vaccine is more dangerous for children and pregnant women than covid is! the true covid death toll is vastly lower than the government claims!), with an added dose of martyrdom after one of his videos was removed for blatant misinformation (which of course only increased his credibility with conspiracy nuts and boosted his subscriber numbers).

I have been saddened to see this happen as well. I watched his channel quite a bit at the beginning, but he went pretty wacky. I rely now on Katelyn Jetelina (Your Local Epidemiologist) and I appreciate the links and information here on TWTM boards. 

[bookbard]

There was, and is still, a backlash against firefighters in Australia since the big fires in 2019/2020. A sense that they made it worse, or they didn't do enough. I see the same thing with the HCW. The initial outpouring of support, that emotion, turns to bitterness when they can't save everyone. Oh, the same with teachers. There was such gratitude towards teachers when parents had to school from home. That has definitely turned around and there's a huge anti-teacher sentiment. 

Some of it is probably orchestrated deliberately by various groups. But some of it is human nature - wanting all or nothing. Either the firefighters save every house and life, or they're worthless. Same with HCW. 

I agree it's a massive cause for concern going into the future. Sure, people have the right to refuse medication/vaccination for themselves. But when they're promoting these things, and raising their children in these ways, it isn't about themselves at all. It's incredibly dangerous. 

 

[Laura Corin]

10 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

I have been saddened to see this happen as well. I watched his channel quite a bit at the beginning, but he went pretty wacky. I rely now on Katelyn Jetelina (Your Local Epidemiologist) and I appreciate the links and information here on TWTM boards. 

My other source of information is Professor Tim Spector of the Zoe app. They are still collecting data from their app users.

His videos also discuss other health issues, as Zoe markets health monitoring products, but I think his Covid info is solid. He had an interview with John Campbell in the early Covid days that politely pointed out that Campbell was relying on poor studies for his pronouncements. Here's his latest video

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by Laura Corin

[whitestavern]

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-ceo-tests-positive-covid-2022-09-24/

[KSera]

1 hour ago, whitestavern said:

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-ceo-tests-positive-covid-2022-09-24/

I doubt they sequenced his August infection, but it would have been interesting to see if this is in fact a new infection, or a bit of a delayed rebound from his Paxlovid treatment. 

[iamonlyone]

I'm am cross posting here, in case others may be interested in joining this study:

The COVID Human Genetic Effort is seeking research participants who have been closely exposed to COVID but have never exhibited symptoms, as well as those who have been hospitalized with COVID: www.covidhge.com/participants

[bookbard]

Covid numbers down across Australia as the winter wave finishes, but with school holidays moving everyone around and floods and rain keeping people indoors, there'll be another surge. Apparently BA 2.75 is rising in NSW and that's a super infectious variant. Of course, the govt has decided to remove all masking on public transport just as more people are likely to use it over the holidays . . .

[Ausmumof3]

BA 2.75 at around 20pc in NSW at the moment with a predicted crossover with 5 in October - possibly skewed by sampling bias. 
 

4.6 at around 7pc across most states.

[Ausmumof3]

I haven’t read this in depth, so not sure how good it is, but I know we have some Lyme boardies so might be worth noting 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-20202-x

In this study we investigated potential correlations between detected antibody levels indicating exposure to Borrelia and the risk of increased severity of COVID-19. Previous exposure to Borrelia was identified by multi-antigenic serological testing, and it revealed that increased levels of Borrelia-specific IgGs strongly correlated with COVID-19 severity and with the risk of hospitalization (Fig. 1 and 3, Supplementary Tables S1 and S2). For Borrelia-specific IgMs, correlations were weaker and mostly insignificant (Fig. 2 and Supplementary Fig. S3, Supplementary Tables S3 and S4).

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/09/european-countries-see-early-signs-autumn-covid-19-rise
 

Early signs of autumn wave for Europe 

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-02002-y
 

The mild but persistent non-ischemic cardiac inflammation that we describe in this study was not associated with overt structural heart disease or troponin release. Although it is triggered by a viral infection, profound myocardial injury or functional impairment is not typical, contrary to the classical definition of viral myocarditis². Its pathophysiology is more reminiscent of findings in other chronic diffuse inflammatory syndromes that occur post-virally (for example, human immunodeficiency virus–associated cardiomyopathy)³ or as a result of autoimmunity (for example, systemic lupus erythematosus^4,5). In these cases, persistent subclinical cardiovascular inflammation seems to predispose people to a poor prognosis and the development of heart failure. Non-ischemic cardiac inflammatory involvement is therefore emerging as an important risk factor, and the long-term prognostic relevance of post-acute COVID-19 cardiac involvement in previously healthy people with mild initial COVID-19 illness requires further investigation.

There are some limitations to our study. Although mapping techniques provide valuable pathophysiological insights, transferability of these findings is limited by a lack of standardization and methodological variations. Furthermore, we note that these results are based on a selected population of people who had recovered from COVID-19, and thus an extrapolation of prevalence of symptoms or findings onto the general population is not possible. Although it was most likely driven by an autoimmune process, the underlying pathophysiology remains only partially understood.

[Ausmumof3]

For those interested in nasal sprays, this spray derived from seaweed extract apparently shows promise as a preventative.

https://www.dovepress.com/efficacy-of-a-nasal-spray-containing-iota-carrageenan-in-the-postexpos-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-IJGM#

 

Our results suggest that the nasal spray with I-C could give significant protection for COVID-19 prophylaxis in health care workers managing patients with COVID-19 disease. This finding should be replicated in future clinical trials.
 

 

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.science.org/content/article/big-covid-19-waves-may-be-coming-new-omicron-strains-suggest#.YzOte7YOF1Q.twitter
 

Newest strains and immune evasion potential 

[BeachGal]

10 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

For those interested in nasal sprays, this spray derived from seaweed extract apparently shows promise as a preventative.

https://www.dovepress.com/efficacy-of-a-nasal-spray-containing-iota-carrageenan-in-the-postexpos-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-IJGM#

 

Our results suggest that the nasal spray with I-C could give significant protection for COVID-19 prophylaxis in health care workers managing patients with COVID-19 disease. This finding should be replicated in future clinical trials.
 

 

Iota carrageenan nasal sprays such as Betadine were promising early on in the pandemic yet they were very difficult to buy online or in stores in the US. I found only one oddball store in Canada that was selling the spray online during the pandemic but now many Canadian stores are selling it. Not sure about the US.

Just an fyi: Betadine’s nasal spray contains a type of iota carrageenan, carragelose. Their mouth spray and mouth gargle contain povidone iodine.

eta: I checked to see if Canadian stores will ship the nasal spray to US and they can’t. The spray sold on US Amazon is questionable and might be fake.

 

https://www.onedaymd.com/2021/04/iota-carrageenan-nasal-spray.html

“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a major health, social, and economic burden, and we now see variants of SARS-CoV-2 taking over the dynamics of the pandemic. We are very confident in these results that show Carragelose inactivates SARS-CoV-2, independent of the mutations we tested,” said Dr. Eva Prieschl-Grassauer, Chief Scientific Officer at Marinomed. “Given the broad antiviral efficacy and the physical mode of action, we were convinced that SARS‑CoV‑2 variants are unlikely to evade the antiviral efficacy of Carragelose. With these new results we confirmed the hypothesis that our Carragelose-based products continue to be effective also against the mutations of concern currently emerging strongly. We believe that this will hold true for any future variants.”

In recent in vitro tests, Marinomed included four lentiviruses differently pseudotyped with the spike protein of wild-type SARS-CoV-2 or one of the three variants B.1.1.7, B1.351 and P1, respectively. Carragelose was able to inactivate all four virus forms at concentrations below 5 µg/ml. This is clinically relevant for the use of Carragelose-containing products: The marketed nasal sprays have a Carragelose concentration of 1.2 mg / ml, a more than 200-fold higher dose as shown to be effective in vitro. The non-sulfated polymers HPMC and CMC were ineffective even at the highest concentrations tested.

In addition, two of the three SARS-CoV-2 variants (B1.1.7 and B1.351) were independently tested in Vero cell tissue culture in cooperation with the virological institute of the University Hospital Erlangen, Germany. Carragelose showed similar effectiveness against the SARS-CoV-2 wild type and the tested variants.

Dr. Prieschl-Grassauer continued: “We are very pleased to show that Carragelose is effective regardless of the actual SARS-CoV-2 variant. With the extensive discussions we are seeing around maintaining efficacy against a mutating virus, it is reassuring to know that Carragelose is a simple, safe, and effective means of supporting the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. With the data we have already seen against SARS-CoV-2 wild type, we are confident that this will hold true also for SARS-CoV-2 variants in the clinic.”

Marinomed’s lentivirus data show the ability of Carragelose to prevent the virus from attaching to the host cell. The infectious virus particles used in the cooperation with the virological institute of the University Hospital Erlangen mimic the effect of an actual infection, where the virus replicates in the host cells and then reinfects further cells, thereby spreading the infection in the body. Both are established and scientifically widely accepted models. Taken together, the data show how Carragelose can effectively inhibit SARS-CoV-2 variants in tissue culture. The cooperation partners plan to publish the data in a peer reviewed journal.
 

About Carragelose®:

 

Carragelose® is a sulfated polymer from red seaweed and is a unique, broadly active anti-viral compound. It is known as a gentle yet effective and safe prevention and treatment against respiratory infections. Several clinical and preclinical studies have shown that Carragelose® forms a layer on the mucosa wrapping entering viruses, thereby inactivating them, and preventing them from infecting cells. Increasing clinical evidence indicates that Carragelose® can also inactivate SARS-CoV-2.

Edited September 28, 2022 by BeachGal

[iamonlyone]

14 hours ago, BeachGal said:

I

Just an fyi: Betadine’s nasal spray contains a type of iota carrageenan, carragelose. Their mouth spray and mouth gargle contain povidone iodine.

eta: I checked to see if Canadian stores will ship the nasal spray to US and they can’t. The spray sold on US Amazon is questionable and might be fake.

 

https://www.onedaymd.com/2021/04/iota-carrageenan-nasal-spray.html

 

Edit: Never mind. I just tried to order, and it says it can't ship to my US address.

This one on Amazon might be the iota carrageenan one: https://www.amazon.ca/Betadine-Defence-Nasal-Spray-milliliter/dp/B082331GXK/ref=pd_bxgy_sccl_1/138-0351017-0920778?pd_rd_w=LePAZ&content-id=amzn1.sym.17b2b149-58e2-4824-ba79-851c5f351fdc&pf_rd_p=17b2b149-58e2-4824-ba79-851c5f351fdc&pf_rd_r=N0EJA5HQQJR96N0ED5BY&pd_rd_wg=pbC8C&pd_rd_r=f083d2b2-4265-41b2-b291-70e4d3d16286&pd_rd_i=B082331GXK&psc=1

Delivery time is 1-2 months though.

Edited September 29, 2022 by iamonlyone

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/unlike-flu-covid-19-attacks-dna-in-the-heart-new-research-20220929-p5bm10.html
 

some new research from Aus on heart damage and covid. It’s only a very small study and based on people who died of covid so not necessarily able to be applied to mild cases etc. the link to the original research publication is at the bottom of the article. Basically it doesn’t look like inflammation is the primary driver for heart issues with covid like it is with flu.

 

“We found a lot of DNA damage that was unique to the COVID-19 patients which wasn’t present in the flu patients,” he said.

“So in this study, COVID-19 and flu look very different in the way they affect the heart.”
 

 

[bookbard]

27 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

“So in this study, COVID-19 and flu look very different in the way they affect the heart.”

How do the 'covid is just like the flu' people not see the sheer number difference in flu vs covid deaths? We had a 'bad' flu season this year and had less than a thousand deaths, vs 14,000 covid deaths. It's deadlier in so many ways (such as your study above).

They're going to end covid isolation altogether soon. This is purely financial, so they don't have to pay for people to isolate. So people won't isolate. It will be a disaster by Christmas.

So there was a thread on twitter about nasal sprays - there's an existing one which may be effective, Flo Travel spray. Apparently available in Australia too. 

 

 

[Ausmumof3]

14 minutes ago, bookbard said:

How do the 'covid is just like the flu' people not see the sheer number difference in flu vs covid deaths? We had a 'bad' flu season this year and had less than a thousand deaths, vs 14,000 covid deaths. It's deadlier in so many ways (such as your study above).

They're going to end covid isolation altogether soon. This is purely financial, so they don't have to pay for people to isolate. So people won't isolate. It will be a disaster by Christmas.

So there was a thread on twitter about nasal sprays - there's an existing one which may be effective, Flo Travel spray. Apparently available in Australia too. 

 

 

Denial I guess. With covid not of covid. Or whatever makes them feel happy with their choices. 

[Ausmumof3]

Mandatory iso is scrapped from 14th of October. I feel like Australia is one of the first to make that jump? From all in to nothing in 12 months. 
 

It’s a cost-driven decision as gov doesn’t want to keep paying support payments. 
 

Guess Christmas will be a rollercoaster.

[bookbard]

44 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Guess Christmas will be a rollercoaster.

Yep. We've already informed family we won't be attending our usual big gathering. 

Apparently the CHO said Australia hasn't been badly affected by Long Covid - which is just a crazy thing to say. Firstly, we've only less than 12 months of 'let it rip' policies to infect everyone, and secondly, how much research has been done?

So glad I just got approved for homeschooling till Jan 2024. 

[Ausmumof3]

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-reveals-main-sars-cov-brain-effects.html

[bookbard]

Looks like the NSW government has now deactivated the map with covid cases by postcode. There's no way of knowing whether cases in the local area are rising or falling. There's only weekly state numbers. I suppose they're trying to end covid by reducing the data. I guess the next step will be to stop testing. Then there'll be no covid cases, right?

My husband will be having surgery in the next few months (I think we find out tomorrow) and I'd say that may well be how it enters our household. He hasn't got his 4th shot yet so hopefully will get it about 2 weeks before the surgery. 

 

[Melissa Louise]

@Ausmumof3

Have you come across any information about what the plan is here re vaccines for next year?

[Ausmumof3]

19 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

@Ausmumof3

Have you come across any information about what the plan is here re vaccines for next year?

No 😞 have seen headlines saying that maybe we don’t have the quantity on order we should have but that’s all. I haven’t read in detail to sort through what the issues are though. I think they basically seem to figure if you can’t get three doses into most people there’s no point going for annual 😞

[Malory]

https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2022/08/atagi-recommendations-on-the-use-of-a-booster-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine.pdf

Unlike in the US, Australia is not recommending fourth booster in males under 50. I am assuming fourth booster= bivalent booster. But maybe that is not the case?

 

[Laura Corin]

4 hours ago, Malory said:

https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2022/08/atagi-recommendations-on-the-use-of-a-booster-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine.pdf

Unlike in the US, Australia is not recommending fourth booster in males under 50. I am assuming fourth booster= bivalent booster. But maybe that is not the case?

 

In the UK it's just over-fifties and vulnerable people getting the bivalent. The population has a lot of immunity already - vaccination plus booster plus infection. 

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19latestinsights/antibodies#:~:text=Antibodies against coronavirus (COVID-19)&text=96.9% in England,96.4% in Northern Ireland

 

[Ausmumof3]

Looks like data from VIC is going to become a lot less reliable.

[Melissa Louise]

9 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

No 😞 have seen headlines saying that maybe we don’t have the quantity on order we should have but that’s all. I haven’t read in detail to sort through what the issues are though. I think they basically seem to figure if you can’t get three doses into most people there’s no point going for annual 😞

I'm getting nervous - surely they are least going to offer an optional annual vaccine like the flu shot?

Combined with the end of iso, I'm feeling anxious. 

 

[Laura Corin]

4 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

I'm getting nervous - surely they are least going to offer an optional annual vaccine like the flu shot?

Combined with the end of iso, I'm feeling anxious. 

 

I'm waiting for the day when you can just pay for the Covid jab if you wish, in addition to its being free for vulnerable people. Right now I'm eligible but have to wait for my invitation letter.  There's no private option. 

[Melissa Louise]

3 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

I'm waiting for the day when you can just pay for the Covid jab if you wish, in addition to its being free for vulnerable people. Right now I'm eligible but have to wait for my invitation letter.  There's no private option. 

This would be good. 

Is it a supply thing? Or just eyes completely off the Covid ball? 

[Laura Corin]

14 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

This would be good. 

Is it a supply thing? Or just eyes completely off the Covid ball? 

I think the UK government only bought enough for the vulnerable.  But I don't know what supplies are like worldwide and when it will be available on demand.

[bookbard]

6 hours ago, Malory said:

Unlike in the US, Australia is not recommending fourth booster in males under 50. I am assuming fourth booster= bivalent booster. But maybe that is not the case?

 

No, the 4th shot isn't the bivalent, the bivalent isn't available in Australia yet. The 4th shot was initially limited to certain people and then they opened it up (supply issues). The uptake has been very low, because you can't remove all protections (indicating covid is over) while simultaneously urging a vaccine (what for, covid is over).

[Melissa Louise]

Apparently the bivalent is available in AU on Monday, but only for people who have had fewer than the two recommended boosters.

Still doesn't answer any questions about routine vaccination ongoing.

[Matryoshka]

3 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

In the UK it's just over-fifties and vulnerable people getting the bivalent. The population has a lot of immunity already - vaccination plus booster plus infection. 

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19latestinsights/antibodies#:~:text=Antibodies against coronavirus (COVID-19)&text=96.9% in England,96.4% in Northern Ireland

That's assuming all people already got an Omicron infection as a 'booster'.  If I were under 50 and had thus far avoided infection, I'd be pissed not to be offered the bivalent vax.  The old vaxes are both too poor a match and too long ago to offer much protection against Omicron.

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, Laura Corin said:

I'm waiting for the day when you can just pay for the Covid jab if you wish, in addition to its being free for vulnerable people. Right now I'm eligible but have to wait for my invitation letter.  There's no private option. 

Singapore all along has a private option

https://www.vaccine.gov.sg/locations/pvp/
“All individuals aged 12 years* and above (including long-term residents and short-term visitors) may receive vaccinations and boosters under the Private Vaccination Programme (PVP). This will allow individuals who wish to take additional vaccine doses, but who do not qualify under the National Vaccination Programme, to do so based on a doctor’s assessment. As this is a private arrangement, the vaccinations will be at the individual’s own cost. ”