Omicron anecdata?

[mommyoffive]

Medicare enrollees to get free COVID-19 tests at drug stores | AP News

[mommyoffive]

Original antigenic sin: Are boosters a threat? (substack.com)

[mommyoffive]

Walgreens now has a Covid Dashboard

Walgreens COVID-19 Index

 

[Laura Corin]

I heard an estimate today that 50 percent of people in the UK have had Covid in the past four months. Currently, out of my children's generation three have had confirmed Covid, one is likely but not yet testing positive and only one has not had it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0bzkyvl

Edited April 6, 2022 by Laura Corin

[Corraleno]

Had my 2nd Modern booster on Tuesday, and had the same reaction that I did to the 1st one: my whole upper arm was red, swollen, and hot to the touch, plus swollen lymph nodes in my armpit. I was also tired, achey, and had a general coming-down-with-the-flu feeling. I was chugging as much water as I could stand, too, so I think there's either something in the Moderna formula that is more irritating or it's just that the higher dose is causing a bigger reaction, since I only had a slightly sore arm with the two Pfizer shots. My arm is still quite sore 48 hours later, but the rest of the symptoms have thankfully dissipated.

[mommyoffive]

New wave of Covid cases hits U.S. officials, rattles Washington (msn.com)

[mommyoffive]

XE and why we may want Omicron to mutate (substack.com)

[mommyoffive]

U.S. life expectancy falls in 2021, following 2020's big drop : Shots - Health News : NPR

 

Millions have been exposed to COVID and never caught it. What's protecting them? : Goats and Soda : NPR

[mommyoffive]

Hoping this is not the start of a new big surge.   😞

[wathe]

Ontario now estimating 100,000 new infections per day.  Hospitalizations up 40% in the last week.   Systems are unravelling - hospitals again having difficulty with staffing because so many staff are out sick.  Wastewater is alarming.   The Government's head is firmly buried in the sand.

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, wathe said:

Ontario now estimating 100,000 new infections per day.  Hospitalizations up 40% in the last week.   Systems are unravelling - hospitals again having difficulty with staffing because so many staff are out sick.  Wastewater is alarming.   The Government's head is firmly buried in the sand.

Oh wow.  I am sorry.  I am wondering if you guys are ahead of the US?  And why is it going to have as big of a surge as Omicron in December?  Is there some reason for that?  The things that I have seen say that the US won't have that, but I don't know if that is really true.  I mean you had a big surge recently and have people vaxxed.  

[wathe]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Oh wow.  I am sorry.  I am wondering if you guys are ahead of the US?  And why is it going to have as big of a surge as Omicron in December?  Is there some reason for that?  The things that I have seen say that the US won't have that, but I don't know if that is really true.  I mean you had a big surge recently and have people vaxxed.  

We weren't "supposed" to have a big BA.2 surge either.  But, clearly, we do......

3rd dose uptake has been poor, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 50%, I think.

Capacity limits were lifted end of Feb for restaurants and gyms.  Mask mandates lifted March 21. People have gone back to pre-pandemic lifestyles.  Public health messaging has been beyond terrible (with a few notable exceptions of particular kick-a$$ medical officers of health in certain regions)

Some sectors are within days of systems collapse.  Some school boards have had to close in-person schooling in some schools because too many staff are out sick. Hospitals are approaching critical staffing shortages, again.  In my dept, doctors are dropping like flies - 25% of our group is out sick with COVID, half of those newly positive within the past 24h, and each will be out for 7-10 days.  I anticipate there will be more positives in the next few days   Our reserve has been depleted over the past 2 years.  There simply isn't any left.

Edited April 8, 2022 by wathe

[ktgrok]

My stupid state as of when I looked an hour ago had March 18th as the last data posted for the regular report. 

But the most recent wasterwater levels show a 24% increase in the past few weeks. But they don't date those, so not sure WHEN that was recorded. 

[Corraleno]

6 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

XE and why we may want Omicron to mutate (substack.com)

I really recommend that anyone interested in the future evolution of this virus read this piece by epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina. It's about much more than just XE, and it's full of really good graphs and diagrams about the way this thing seems to evolve and what we might expect in the future. Really informative and helpful compilation of the data and predictions.

[Corraleno]

26 minutes ago, wathe said:

We weren't "supposed" to have a big BA.2 surge either.  But, clearly, we do......

3rd dose uptake has been poor, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 50%, I think.

Booster uptake in the US is even lower — around 45%. What was the rate of Omicron infection there? I think the assumption that the US won't have another big wave is based on the estimate that around 50% of Americans had BA1 (which is insane!) and will therefore be protected against BA2. But I worry that we may see new waves in the states that previously had strong mitigation measures, and therefore lower Omicron rates, but have now dropped those measures and opened everything up.

[wathe]

30 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

<snip>  that previously had strong mitigation measures, and therefore lower Omicron rates, but have now dropped those measures and opened everything up.

I think that this may describe us - sort of.   Estimated 25% of the population infected with Omicron during the last wave.  Which still seems crazy high to me.

Edited April 8, 2022 by wathe

[wathe]

Two more docs down in the past 2 hours.

[iamonlyone]

Quite a ways back in this thread, I posted about our dd27 who is a professional ballerina. (BTW, is there a way to search for one's own posts?) She was down a couple weeks with Omicron (we assume, due to time frame) in spite of being vaxed and boosted (all Pfizer).

She continued having periods of rapid heartbeat after she was back on her feet (and working and dancing), and this week she ended up in the hospital for a couple days. She is resting at her home and doing better with a prescribed beta blocker. Her symptoms are looking a lot like POTS, triggered by Covid. Prayers and good wishes for K are appreciated.

 

[Kassia]

27 minutes ago, iamonlyone said:

Quite a ways back in this thread, I posted about our dd27 who is a professional ballerina. (BTW, is there a way to search for one's own posts?) She was down a couple weeks with Omicron (we assume, due to time frame) in spite of being vaxed and boosted (all Pfizer).

She continued having periods of rapid heartbeat after she was back on her feet (and working and dancing), and this week she ended up in the hospital for a couple days. She is resting at her home and doing better with a prescribed beta blocker. Her symptoms are looking a lot like POTS, triggered by Covid. Prayers and good wishes for K are appreciated.

 

To find your posts, go to your profile and click on "see my activity."  

I'm sorry about your dd but glad she's doing better now that she's on meds. That's scary that she ended up in the hospital.  She must have felt miserable.  😞 Definitely sending good wishes to her.

Edited April 8, 2022 by Kassia

[iamonlyone]

27 minutes ago, Kassia said:

To find your posts, go to your profile and click on "see my activity."  

I'm sorry about your dd but glad she's doing better now that she's on meds. That's scary that she ended up in the hospital.  She must have felt miserable.  😞 Definitely sending good wishes to her.

Thank you! I knew I had seen a history somewhere! It looks like I posted February 2 with updates on February 5 and 6. So, she is a couple months out from getting sick.

[Mom_to3]

3 hours ago, Corraleno said:

Booster uptake in the US is even lower — around 45%. What was the rate of Omicron infection there? I think the assumption that the US won't have another big wave is based on the estimate that around 50% of Americans had BA1 (which is insane!) and will therefore be protected against BA2. But I worry that we may see new waves in the states that previously had strong mitigation measures, and therefore lower Omicron rates, but have now dropped those measures and opened everything up.

The UK had a huge Omicron BA1 wave, followed by a huge BA2 wave. IF the US doesn't see a huge BA2 wave, it won't be because of BA1 immunity (and there is a question what huge means - any wave prior to Omicron looks tiny compared to Omicron...). Wastewater in MA, for instance. is already back at Delta surge levels, Harvard cases these last few days are at almost record levels (except the very peak of Omicron over the holidays). IMO, we can only look at wastewater and the few universities that still require PCR (!) testing to understand true spread - all the other data is obfuscated. And with so many politicians testing positive this week - again, they are one of the few groups routinely tested. Keep all this in mind when evaluating data.

[wathe]

The probability of reinfection with BA.2 after BA.1 is also "supposed" to be low.  But, anecdotally,  we are definitely seeing reinfections in clinic.  It does not seem rare.

[Catwoman]

3 hours ago, wathe said:

Two more docs down in the past 2 hours.

Praying that you stay safe!!!

[Catwoman]

2 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

Quite a ways back in this thread, I posted about our dd27 who is a professional ballerina. (BTW, is there a way to search for one's own posts?) She was down a couple weeks with Omicron (we assume, due to time frame) in spite of being vaxed and boosted (all Pfizer).

She continued having periods of rapid heartbeat after she was back on her feet (and working and dancing), and this week she ended up in the hospital for a couple days. She is resting at her home and doing better with a prescribed beta blocker. Her symptoms are looking a lot like POTS, triggered by Covid. Prayers and good wishes for K are appreciated.

 

Praying for your daughter!!!

[wathe]

13 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

Praying that you stay safe!!!

I think I'll be OK.  Almost all of them seem to be getting it from their kids, who've brought it home from school or daycare.  It's just everywhere right now.

ETA homeschooling has been super protective for us.  We do truly outdoor socializing only.   The kids' only indoor exposure is volleyball, and my kids play in n95's that fit - they are super diligent about it ('cos they know, if not diligent, and get busted - which they will, I have "spies" everywhere LOL - then no more volleyball)

ETA again - we've had numerous object lessons about peer pressure during this pandemic......

Edited April 9, 2022 by wathe

[KSera]

1 hour ago, Mom_to3 said:

And with so many politicians testing positive this week - again, they are one of the few groups routinely tested. Keep all this in mind when evaluating data.

That’s a good point. Do we have any idea how many of the Washington DC cases are asymptomatic cases caught during routine testing?

[mommyoffive]

4 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

Quite a ways back in this thread, I posted about our dd27 who is a professional ballerina. (BTW, is there a way to search for one's own posts?) She was down a couple weeks with Omicron (we assume, due to time frame) in spite of being vaxed and boosted (all Pfizer).

She continued having periods of rapid heartbeat after she was back on her feet (and working and dancing), and this week she ended up in the hospital for a couple days. She is resting at her home and doing better with a prescribed beta blocker. Her symptoms are looking a lot like POTS, triggered by Covid. Prayers and good wishes for K are appreciated.

 

Sending prayers her way.  I am sorry.

[Ting Tang]

48 minutes ago, KSera said:

That’s a good point. Do we have any idea how many of the Washington DC cases are asymptomatic cases caught during routine testing?

I read they required proof of vax and read an article it shows us what living with Covid could look like— but I’d love to know, too. I’m not quite ready to unmask, but my husband has, so I’m vulnerable there. Wish I could live less worried. 

[KSera]

3 minutes ago, Ting Tang said:

I read they required proof of vax and read an article it shows us what living with Covid could look like— but I’d love to know, too. I’m not quite ready to unmask, but my husband has, so I’m vulnerable there. 

If it was the opinion piece by Leana Wen in the Washington Post, 🤢. She jumped the shark long ago, unfortunately. That event is a horrible example of “living with Covid”. A bunch of high risk people all got infected, but are fortunate enough to have access to treatments that many of those they in turn may have exposed won’t. 

[Mom_to3]

56 minutes ago, KSera said:

That’s a good point. Do we have any idea how many of the Washington DC cases are asymptomatic cases caught during routine testing?

The really big question I have is if these (often) elderly politicians like Pelosi and Clinton are getting Paxlovid or the one remaining monoclonal as soon as they test positive (she's >80!)? All we hear is sth along the lines of the symptoms are mild thanks to vaccinations and boosters - if they receive further treatment, the public should be told (or they should shut up about their mild symptoms), because we follow their example (in terms of crowds and lack of masks).

[KSera]

4 minutes ago, Mom_to3 said:

The really big question I have is if these (often) elderly politicians like Pelosi and Clinton are getting Paxlovid or the one remaining monoclonal as soon as they test positive (she's >80!)? All we hear is sth along the lines of the symptoms are mild thanks to vaccinations and boosters - if they receive further treatment, the public should be told (or they should shut up about their mild symptoms), because we follow their example (in terms of crowds and lack of masks).

I totally agree, and I’m sure they are. That’s the other thing, is they say this is the way we should be moving forward, yet they are testing the heck out of everyone there. It’s not the same situation as it is for the general public. I mean, how many unvaccinated toddlers and preschoolers are there at the White House or the Capitol, for example? How many people with no physician or insurance?

[Mom_to3]

And I've heard of one senator with long covid who has claimed that some of his colleagues suffer from long covid as well but have not dared to open up about it. I am afraid we are fed very one-sided information (including from my employer, who happily announces regularly that we don't have many hospitalizations - but if I suffered from long covid, including and especially brain fog, would I really come forward and reveal this, or fear discrimination??). I am just really pissed, as I had such great hope and trust in the Biden administration regarding covid after the election - now I trust nothing that comes out of our government's mouth.

[Matryoshka]

14 minutes ago, Mom_to3 said:

The really big question I have is if these (often) elderly politicians like Pelosi and Clinton are getting Paxlovid or the one remaining monoclonal as soon as they test positive (she's >80!)? All we hear is sth along the lines of the symptoms are mild thanks to vaccinations and boosters - if they receive further treatment, the public should be told (or they should shut up about their mild symptoms), because we follow their example (in terms of crowds and lack of masks).

Actually,  none of the monoclonals they had work against BA2...  it was BA1 that one still worked for, now the last one is out too...  but yeah, there still are a few other treatments that are hard to impossible to get for the general population that I'm sure they can access.

[Mom_to3]

19 minutes ago, Matryoshka said:

Actually,  none of the monoclonals they had work against BA2...  it was BA1 that one still worked for, now the last one is out too...  but yeah, there still are a few other treatments that are hard to impossible to get for the general population that I'm sure they can access.

There is still bebtelovimab I think.

[Matryoshka]

1 hour ago, Mom_to3 said:

There is still bebtelovimab I think.

Is that a new one? The only one left standing with OM1 started with an S...

Yeah, I looked it up, just got authorized at the end of Feb. Glad they've got something...

[popmom]

8 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

Quite a ways back in this thread, I posted about our dd27 who is a professional ballerina. (BTW, is there a way to search for one's own posts?) She was down a couple weeks with Omicron (we assume, due to time frame) in spite of being vaxed and boosted (all Pfizer).

She continued having periods of rapid heartbeat after she was back on her feet (and working and dancing), and this week she ended up in the hospital for a couple days. She is resting at her home and doing better with a prescribed beta blocker. Her symptoms are looking a lot like POTS, triggered by Covid. Prayers and good wishes for K are appreciated.

 

I’m sorry she’s going through this.
 

I had an episode of SVT about 4 weeks out from having Omicron. I just saw a cardiologist to follow up. I’m wearing a monitor for a week to see if I need meds. ETA: I cannot say that my episode is related to COVID as I have experienced SVT in the past. But my aunt’s experience below seems definitely related—because of the timing and how prolonged her symptoms were. 
 

I just learned today that my aunt (about 70) has struggled with an elevated heart rate since having COVID. I think she had Delta variant. Her heart rate was 120+ for a long time. I’ve heard of blood clots, but the SVT is not as well known. I guess because it’s not immediately life threatening. 
 

Good news is that at least SVT can be treated if it continues to be a problem. 

Edited April 9, 2022 by popmom

[Ting Tang]

9 hours ago, KSera said:

If it was the opinion piece by Leana Wen in the Washington Post, 🤢. She jumped the shark long ago, unfortunately. That event is a horrible example of “living with Covid”. A bunch of high risk people all got infected, but are fortunate enough to have access to treatments that many of those they in turn may have exposed won’t. 

Yes, it didn’t say how anyone was doing, just that many got it. I live in a small area and our cases jumped this last week. Our rate is about 54/100,000. It’s not terrible, but there are people who say they’d only unmask if it’s 10 or under. Around here I don’t see the masses going back to safety protocols. 

[Laura Corin]

12 hours ago, Mom_to3 said:

The UK had a huge Omicron BA1 wave, followed by a huge BA2 wave. IF the US doesn't see a huge BA2 wave, it won't be because of BA1 immunity (and there is a question what huge means - any wave prior to Omicron looks tiny compared to Omicron...). 

Yes. The below graphs are for Scotland,  where test kits are still free for now.  The booster rate is 58 percent of total UK population, heavily skewed to older people.  It looks as if the BA2 peak was lower but still alarmingly high.

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/phs.covid.19/viz/COVID-19DailyDashboard_15960160643010/Overview

Edited April 9, 2022 by Laura Corin

[KSera]

3 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

It looks as if the BA2 peak was lower but still alarmingly high.

It looks like it lasted a bit longer as well, which isn’t what I expected. I’ve been hearing most people predict it being quicker. Though BA1 was so fast that it does seem hard for anything to be quicker. I see you have dropped lower then where you had reached on your BA one decline at this point. That’s good. I hope it keeps going down. The US got much lower on their BA 1curve before it started reversing for BA2. We will see what effect that has.

[Pam in CT]

My husband and I both got Booster 2 on Thursday (we both had Moderna 1/2 vax, then both have had Pfizer 1/2 boosters).

I had a not-miserably sore arm right for ~36 hours. In addition to sore arm, he felt ache-y and flu-y for all of that and is still a bit tired/off today.

That's consistent for each of the sequence -- he's always been more affected than me (or maybe he's just more of a kvetcher, IDK). We both were more affected by the original Moderna cycle than either by the Pfizer boosters, though maybe that's just the higher dosage.

Neither of us has yet had any variant of COVID that we know of (since testing has been easy we test reasonably frequently before we visit with elders or other gatherings).

 

To the question of "are politicians getting MCAB or other scarce treatments" -- one (not federal) data point - our (not that old - I think somewhere in his 50s) governor announced earlier in the week he had tested positive in routing testing. Yesterday he announced in a virtual briefing that he was beginning to experience mild symptoms and was considering (but had not begun) treatment.  In his case (based on how transparent he's been throughout all this, including the balancing act of dropping school mask mandates and etc) I expect he will be transparent if he does start MCAB or other treatment.

Cases here are definitely rising again, sigh. It's hard not to connect it with the elimination of all mask mandates, though maybe it'd have happened regardless.

[mommyoffive]

A new COVID wave is probably coming, and America just doesn’t seem to care (msn.com)

[Corraleno]

18 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

A new COVID wave is probably coming, and America just doesn’t seem to care (msn.com)

That's a really good article, thanks for linking.

"A World Health Organization official recently said we may be entering a "period of ceasefire" with the virus, but Chakravarty says "it takes two parties to agree to a ceasefire. Another word for a one-way ceasefire? Surrender.”
......

“Resource allocators have a tendency to, when something happens, throw a lot of money at it—usually not quite enough, never for long enough,” he says. “Then they withdraw funding, and their expectation of performance far exceeds the money put into it. We’re seeing that happen right now.”

[iamonlyone]

10 hours ago, popmom said:

I’m sorry she’s going through this.
 

I had an episode of SVT about 4 weeks out from having Omicron. I just saw a cardiologist to follow up. I’m wearing a monitor for a week to see if I need meds. ETA: I cannot say that my episode is related to COVID as I have experienced SVT in the past. But my aunt’s experience below seems definitely related—because of the timing and how prolonged her symptoms were. 
 

I just learned today that my aunt (about 70) has struggled with an elevated heart rate since having COVID. I think she had Delta variant. Her heart rate was 120+ for a long time. I’ve heard of blood clots, but the SVT is not as well known. I guess because it’s not immediately life threatening. 
 

Good news is that at least SVT can be treated if it continues to be a problem. 

Thank you for sharing your experience and your aunt's. I have a 24yo nephew who was diagnosed with POTS at 19 years old. He is seen by doctors at John Hopkins. His case isn't responding to time and intervention (at-home IVs, salt pills beta blockers, exercise regimen, etc.) as they had hoped, and he has needed to use a wheel chair for several years now. So, our minds immediately went to POTS. (Also, there has been a huge increase in POTS cases post Covid infection.)

Thank you for the insight that there is hope this could be a less severe issue.

Edited April 9, 2022 by iamonlyone

[KSera]

41 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

A new COVID wave is probably coming, and America just doesn’t seem to care (msn.com)

That one is worth posting the original Fortune link for those that don't want to click any MSN links: https://fortune.com/2022/04/09/new-covid-wave-return-to-office-fauci-omicron-subvariant/

[mommyoffive]

Covid Could Be Surging in the U.S. Right Now and We Might Not Even Know It (msn.com)

[mommyoffive]

After Europe’s latest Covid surge, will the US follow suit? (yahoo.com)

[Lisa]

As a nurse who has seen two surges of covid in the Midwest US, I am still leery of this year. Fall 2020 was terrible for hospitals in the Midwest. Early in 2021 when the vaccine came out, we were so hopeful, but then Fall of 2021 hit and we had another surge. This time 80-90% of the patients hospitalized and dying were unvaccinated and younger.  Now Spring of 2022 covid numbers are down in the US, healthcare is trying to be hopeful again, but with covid variants and still many not getting the vaccine and/or the boosters, I am skeptical we are out of the woods and sadly expect another surge in the US this year and in the Fall in the Midwest.

[mommyoffive]

Fauci advises assessing personal risk amid COVID-19 uptick (msn.com)

[KSera]

3 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Fauci advises assessing personal risk amid COVID-19 uptick (msn.com)

The fact that the CDC and those in charge in Washington DC are still acting like anything under 15 minutes of contact with an infectious person isn’t a concern is ridiculous at this point. We all know that. It seems silly they keep using the gridiron dinner as example of how things should go going forward, yet there’s 60 some people testing positive from the event so far. Lots of them in higher risk groups.

[Laura Corin]

3 hours ago, KSera said:

The fact that the CDC and those in charge in Washington DC are still acting like anything under 15 minutes of contact with an infectious person isn’t a concern is ridiculous at this point. We all know that. It seems silly they keep using the gridiron dinner as example of how things should go going forward, yet there’s 60 some people testing positive from the event so far. Lots of them in higher risk groups.

Yes. One droplet is all it takes.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00319-9