Omicron anecdata?

[KSera]

2 hours ago, kbutton said:

My older DS is having a hard time avoiding eating in the break room for a variety of reasons, and I am a bit tied up in knots that we’ll get it this season.

 

I’m worried about the next two months for the same reason for one of my kids. They are usually alone in the break room if they have to eat, but if someone was in there before, that’s still a risk, and sometimes someone walks in and then kid is scrambling to pull their mask on quick. It’s hard to navigate and might be our biggest risk in this surge. Fortunately there are only a handful of employees, but I’m still hoping they continue to give short hours for the next few hours, as dc doesn’t have to eat at work then. 

[Mom_to3]

Pretty sobering study on the effectiveness of the latest vaccine.. 

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.24.23300512v1

"Results Among 4232 cases and 19,775 controls with median age of 54 years, adjusted ORs for testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 among those who received BNT162b2 XBB1.5-adapted vaccine a median of 30 days ago (vs not having received an XBB1.5-adapted vaccine of any kind) were 0.37 (95% CI: 0.20-0.67) for COVID-19 hospitalization, 0.42 (0.34-0.53) for ED/UC visits, and 0.42 (0.27-0.66) for outpatient visits". Prior vaccination with earlier shots offered no protection at all.

This is depressing (to me), since this is the result after a median of just 30 days - so the very peak of effectiveness...Clearly, a yearly booster with already outdated vaccines is going to be insufficient in a "let it rip" society.

[Mom_to3]

Here the graph illustrating this.

 

[KSera]

22 minutes ago, Mom_to3 said:

Pretty sobering study on the effectiveness of the latest vaccine.. 

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.24.23300512v1

"Results Among 4232 cases and 19,775 controls with median age of 54 years, adjusted ORs for testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 among those who received BNT162b2 XBB1.5-adapted vaccine a median of 30 days ago (vs not having received an XBB1.5-adapted vaccine of any kind) were 0.37 (95% CI: 0.20-0.67) for COVID-19 hospitalization, 0.42 (0.34-0.53) for ED/UC visits, and 0.42 (0.27-0.66) for outpatient visits". Prior vaccination with earlier shots offered no protection at all.

This is depressing (to me), since this is the result after a median of just 30 days - so the very peak of effectiveness...Clearly, a yearly booster with already outdated vaccines is going to be insufficient in a "let it rip" society.

What’s most striking about this to me is the secondary finding regarding prior vaccination history. I do note it was sponsored by Pfizer and is a preprint.

[TexasProud]

13 hours ago, Mom_to3 said:

Pretty sobering study on the effectiveness of the latest vaccine.. 

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.24.23300512v1

"Results Among 4232 cases and 19,775 controls with median age of 54 years, adjusted ORs for testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 among those who received BNT162b2 XBB1.5-adapted vaccine a median of 30 days ago (vs not having received an XBB1.5-adapted vaccine of any kind) were 0.37 (95% CI: 0.20-0.67) for COVID-19 hospitalization, 0.42 (0.34-0.53) for ED/UC visits, and 0.42 (0.27-0.66) for outpatient visits". Prior vaccination with earlier shots offered no protection at all.

This is depressing (to me), since this is the result after a median of just 30 days - so the very peak of effectiveness...Clearly, a yearly booster with already outdated vaccines is going to be insufficient in a "let it rip" society.

Ok, to be honest, I do not completely understand it.  Does that mean the vaccine only worked for 30 days and basically my previous vaccinations are useless.  So, if I got my Covid booster in September, it will be useless for my travel coming up to Africa? 

[BeachGal]

Pegylated-lambda interferon (PEG-lambda) to help treat Covid

 

*******

RCT showing that PEG-lambda worked well as a treatment for Covid in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2209760

Early Treatment with Pegylated Interferon Lambda for Covid-19

*******

Stanford article about PEG-lambda

Single drug injection wards off COVID-19 hospitalizations, in Stanford Medicine-led trial

A single dose of lambda-interferon reduced hospitalization among COVID-19 outpatients in a late-stage study spearheaded by a Stanford Medicine virologist.

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2023/02/interferon-covid.html?tab=proxy

*******

Dr. Seheult discussing interferon and Covid here, including PEG-lambda

*******

Updated Medscape article originally from Feb 2023

A New (Old) Drug Joins the COVID Fray, and Guess What? It Works

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/987900?ecd=mkm_ret_231229_mscpmrk_pcp_top-content_etid6203056&uac=428738CV&impID=6203056#vp_1

[Malory]

1 hour ago, TexasProud said:

Ok, to be honest, I do not completely understand it.  Does that mean the vaccine only worked for 30 days and basically my previous vaccinations are useless.  So, if I got my Covid booster in September, it will be useless for my travel coming up to Africa? 

I think it's saying that if you have received the latest booster, compared to people who have had no recent booster, you have 0.37 chance for COVID-19 hospitalization, 0.42 for ED/UC visits, and 0.42 for outpatient visits. The booster seems to lower your odds for those outcomes. Surprisingly, without the latest booster, those with previous vaccinations are at about the same place with regards to risks compared to the unvaccinated. 

[KSera]

2 hours ago, TexasProud said:

Ok, to be honest, I do not completely understand it.  Does that mean the vaccine only worked for 30 days and basically my previous vaccinations are useless.  So, if I got my Covid booster in September, it will be useless for my travel coming up to Africa? 

Not at all. If the preprint holds up, it’s saying your updated September shot was important for preventing hospitalization or need for emergency visits, as people with the updated vaccine were about a third as likely to be hospitalized and less than half as likely to go to the ER for Covid (put another way, people who didn’t get their Covid shot this Fall were three times more likely to be hospitalized for Covid and more than twice as likely to go to the emergency room). The differences apparently weren’t statistically significant between those who were unvaccinated and those who only had the older shots, which is surprising, because this is the first time that has been the case (again, IF this preprint passes scrutiny and is published-I definitely want to see this replicated before trusting). 

[Matryoshka]

1 hour ago, Malory said:

I think it's saying that if you have received the latest booster, compared to people who have had no recent booster, you have 0.37 chance for COVID-19 hospitalization, 0.42 for ED/UC visits, and 0.42 for outpatient visits. The booster seems to lower your odds for those outcomes. Surprisingly, without the latest booster, those with previous vaccinations are at about the same place with regards to risks compared to the unvaccinated. 

This doesn't actually surprise me (older vax status being not significant) that much. Immunity to this virus seems to wane (from both vax and previous infection) after about three months, and the virus has also mutated significantly from the original vax.  And a third point is that virtually no one unvaxed and still alive is virus naive anymore.  At this point most unvaxed people have had Covid at least once, so also have some previous immunity, so the difference between those people and those with old vaxes is not going to be anywhere near as wide as say, someone virus naive and someone with a recent updated vax.

Knowing all this, we should really be having updated boosters every 6 mos (not yearly), and there should be public health education about why it's important to stay updated, especially for more vulnerable populations.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Matryoshka

[wathe]

I had a look at the study posted above.

It's a quick and dirty chart review study.  

One important point is that it only looks at people who 1) presented for care with acute resp illness symptoms and 2) received a diagnosis of viral respiratory infection and 3) were tested for covid

Completely missing from this study are those who did not get sick in the first place.

So maybe the booster works way better than reported - we have no idea how many in each group didn't get sick at all, or didn't get sick enough to present for care.

Or, for the sake of arguement, maybe it doesn't change covid risk at all, but rather increases risk of getting sick with other viral illnesses, or those boosted are just more likely to present for care when ill with other viral illnesses (very extremely unlikely, but the data would look the same -- this study protocol could not tell the difference).

My real world experience tells me that the booster is probably better than this study suggests, at least for elderly and vulnerable patients.  We are seeing a lot of those in my ED needing hospital admission, almost all unboosted.  Our community fall booster base rate for >65's is 45%.  We aren't seeing the boosted ones.  

slightly older, but still relevant local data: My health unit reported 39 covid deaths Oct-Nov 2023.  All but one >65, and all but one of those unboosted.  The boosted case was <10 days post-booster.  This booster is keeping seniors out of hospital and keeping them alive.

[wathe]

tl;dr version of post above:   Of those who got sick with a resp viral illness and presented to care and were covid tested, those not boosted were more likely to be sick with covid than those boosted.  Alternatively stated, those boosted were more likely to be sick with something else than those not  boosted.

Edited December 30, 2023 by wathe

[Mrs Tiggywinkle Again]

My hospital ran out of ventilators today.  However, it’s not all Covid. In fact most of the vented patients have RSV, flu or both(plus your usual post cardiac arrest, stroke and overdose patients who are on vents).

But there is still a good number of very sick Covid patients.  They just sent out a text for patient surge requesting all off duty personnel to come in and the ambulance company I work for sent a text out asking for people to come in and start moving patients to out of town hospitals.

I feel like we need to start taking all respiratory illnesses very seriously and increasing staffing during respiratory season.  I am not sure that’s ever going to happen.

[Laura Corin]

4 hours ago, wathe said:

tl;dr version of post above:   Of those who got sick with a resp viral illness and presented to care and were covid tested, those not boosted were more likely to be sick with covid than those boosted.  Alternatively stated, those boosted were more likely to be sick with something else than those not  boosted.

Anecdotally: daughter got Covid (probably by snogging someone,  she says) then gave it to me (we had lots of cuddles when she was just feeling a bit unwell). Husband, who was also around daughter and shared a 6-hour car journey with me after I had started to get a cough, did not get Covid. No masking up to that point, although I isolated in the house thereafter and wore a mask when we had to overlap.

The only boostered person was Husband  - under the UK's current protocol daughter and I couldn't get boosters. My last Covid immunity event was a Biontech mRNA vaccine in December 22. 

The previous time we had Covid,  husband caught it on a plane and gave it to me. In that case it was for both of us 10 months after an mRNA booster.

[Jaybee]

Dh and I both have covid. We got boosters in September when the latest ones came out. I feel pretty miserable, but bad-cold type miserable, not I'm gonna' keel over miserable. He has a pretty deep but productive cough. I have a lighter irritated throat type cough. Lots of congestion, sneezing, drippy nose. No fever. I've had bad headaches off and on. It hasn't gone to my chest at all right now, and I think he's okay too-he's outside raking leaves.

[KSera]

36 minutes ago, Jaybee said:

Dh and I both have covid. We got boosters in September when the latest ones came out. I feel pretty miserable, but bad-cold type miserable, not I'm gonna' keel over miserable. He has a pretty deep but productive cough. I have a lighter irritated throat type cough. Lots of congestion, sneezing, drippy nose. No fever. I've had bad headaches off and on. It hasn't gone to my chest at all right now, and I think he's okay too-he's outside raking leaves.

Sorry to hear. Is this your first time? Encourage your dh not to get back to it too soon. The leaves will wait, and doing too much could increase the risk of long term consequences. 

[Faith-manor]

7 hours ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

My hospital ran out of ventilators today.  However, it’s not all Covid. In fact most of the vented patients have RSV, flu or both(plus your usual post cardiac arrest, stroke and overdose patients who are on vents).

But there is still a good number of very sick Covid patients.  They just sent out a text for patient surge requesting all off duty personnel to come in and the ambulance company I work for sent a text out asking for people to come in and start moving patients to out of town hospitals.

I feel like we need to start taking all respiratory illnesses very seriously and increasing staffing during respiratory season.  I am not sure that’s ever going to happen.

Agreed! We desperately need more respiratory staffing when the three-virus whammy season is upon us. But as long ad we have a for profit medical system in which insurance CEO's and their ilk drive hospital funding instead of full public funding, we aren't going to get it.

Personally, I also wish we had free standing infectious disease hospitals like we used to that kept viral patients out of the other hospitals so there weren't delays for surgeries, procedures, cancer care, etc. from influenza or whatever running amok on every floor, every wing. I also think it would make it much easier to collect data on new viruses because everyone who has it is in one place, and epidemiologists aren't get gazillions of reports from every hospital in the land. I feel like it would be more efficient, but I could be wrong about that.

[KSera]

22 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

We desperately need more respiratory staffing when the three-virus whammy season is upon us. But as long ad we have a for profit medical system in which insurance CEO's and their ilk drive hospital funding instead of full public funding, we aren't going to get it.

While I agree there are lots of problems with our medical system; I’m pretty sure many countries with fully government funded healthcare are experiencing severe staffing shortages now as well (Canada is for sure). I think it’s more than a for-profit health system problem. 

Edited December 31, 2023 by KSera
Spelling

[Jaybee]

2 hours ago, KSera said:

Sorry to hear. Is this your first time? Encourage your dh not to get back to it too soon. The leaves will wait, and doing too much could increase the risk of long term consequences. 

No, we both had it in early 2022.

[PronghornD]

What approach do you think should be used within the household after the five days of isolation are over? We can mask and interact, although my DH probably will not mask. But what about meals? How long should we retreat to separate rooms to eat? A full five more days? This is not the cozy college break we dreamed of!

[Laura Corin]

50 minutes ago, PronghornD said:

What approach do you think should be used within the household after the five days of isolation are over? We can mask and interact, although my DH probably will not mask. But what about meals? How long should we retreat to separate rooms to eat? A full five more days? This is not the cozy college break we dreamed of!

We stayed in separate rooms until I tested negative. I masked in hallways, etc. Testing negative took about a week from initial positive. 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Laura Corin

[KSera]

38 minutes ago, PronghornD said:

What approach do you think should be used within the household after the five days of isolation are over? We can mask and interact, although my DH probably will not mask. But what about meals? How long should we retreat to separate rooms to eat? A full five more days? This is not the cozy college break we dreamed of!

Do you have tests? If so, I’d continue isolating sick from healthy until they test negative (preferably twice, 48 hours apart, but masks rather than isolation after the first negative would probably be pretty reasonable). If no rapid tests available, I’d wait a couple more days before interacting with masks (honestly I’d to day 11 if we didn’t have tests, but our Covid risk tolerance is exceedingly low). 

[wathe]

2 hours ago, PronghornD said:

What approach do you think should be used within the household after the five days of isolation are over? We can mask and interact, although my DH probably will not mask. But what about meals? How long should we retreat to separate rooms to eat? A full five more days? This is not the cozy college break we dreamed of!

Another strategy to add to masking is to ventilate assertively and filter the air.  Open windows.  Run a HEPA air cleaner or a Corsi-Rosenthal box.  Tougher in winter, but still do-able -- even just cracking a couple of windows in common areas while you are together can make a big difference.

[KSera]

35 minutes ago, wathe said:

Another strategy to add to masking is to ventilate assertively and filter the air.  Open windows.  Run a HEPA air cleaner or a Corsi-Rosenthal box.  Tougher in winter, but still do-able -- even just cracking a couple of windows in common areas while you are together can make a big difference.

To add to this, you can also run any bathroom fans (and stove hoods, if you have one). We turn out central hvac fan on to run constantly if we have reason to increase ventilation as well. 

[kbutton]

10 hours ago, PronghornD said:

What approach do you think should be used within the household after the five days of isolation are over? We can mask and interact, although my DH probably will not mask. But what about meals? How long should we retreat to separate rooms to eat? A full five more days? This is not the cozy college break we dreamed of!

If symptoms are pretty much gone, we would ventilate/filter the air (we have a big fan filter and small ones we can move around), eat separately, and hang out distanced with everyone in good masks. DH sees Covid patients on the regular, and he’s not brought it home from work. It’s been one-way masking for quite some time now; he masks, but patients don’t and only some providers do. His biggest risk seems to be eating—he can’t always get totally alone to eat. 

[mommyoffive]

59 minutes ago, kbutton said:

If symptoms are pretty much gone, we would ventilate/filter the air (we have a big fan filter and small ones we can move around), eat separately, and hang out distanced with everyone in good masks. DH sees Covid patients on the regular, and he’s not brought it home from work. It’s been one-way masking for quite some time now; he masks, but patients don’t and only some providers do. His biggest risk seems to be eating—he can’t always get totally alone to eat. 

Always good to hear that one way masking does work.  I know it might not every single time, but it is good to know it still is useful.

[kbutton]

2 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Always good to hear that one way masking does work.  I know it might not every single time, but it is good to know it still is useful.

It’s not foolproof, but it’s not flimsy. We use a mix of KN95/KF94/N95 depending on who and where. 

[Acadie]

On 12/28/2023 at 12:27 PM, KSera said:

I’m worried about the next two months for the same reason for one of my kids. They are usually alone in the break room if they have to eat, but if someone was in there before, that’s still a risk, and sometimes someone walks in and then kid is scrambling to pull their mask on quick. It’s hard to navigate and might be our biggest risk in this surge. Fortunately there are only a handful of employees, but I’m still hoping they continue to give short hours for the next few hours, as dc doesn’t have to eat at work then. 

When indoor dining is unavoidable (which for me is super rare) I've used this portable filter as a layer of protection. When I was researching personal portable filters this looked like the best, as long as it's very close with grates angled to blow directly on you. I've also tried a lower-profile personal Medify the size of a water bottle but the QT3 is far superior. Obviously eating in a car or outdoors would be safest of all. 

https://www.smarterhepa.com/products/qt3-portable-air-purifier-the-small-lightweight-qt3-delivers-clean-air-wherever-you-go-personal-fan-and-hepa-filter-includes-lithium-battery

Two in my household don't like to carry a filter and prefer to take their masks down for each bite, then put it up to chew. That drives me bonkers--I'd much rather set this up and unmask for as short a time as possible. It's rechargeable and can connect to my cell phone power bank if the battery runs out. 

Another option is installing a SIP valve on a mask and drinking a protein shake for lunch.

But I admit most people won't go the lengths I do!

[Acadie]

6 hours ago, kbutton said:

His biggest risk seems to be eating—he can’t always get totally alone to eat. 

Does he have any hacks for safer dining? 

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, Acadie said:

Does he have any hacks for safer dining? 

Not much. Just trying to stay as far away as he can. He tries not to eat at the same time as someone else, and because he works weird shifts, people aren’t eating all at once.

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, Acadie said:

When indoor dining is unavoidable (which for me is super rare) I've used this portable filter as a layer of protection. When I was researching personal portable filters this looked like the best, as long as it's very close with grates angled to blow directly on you. I've also tried a lower-profile personal Medify the size of a water bottle but the QT3 is far superior. Obviously eating in a car or outdoors would be safest of all. 

https://www.smarterhepa.com/products/qt3-portable-air-purifier-the-small-lightweight-qt3-delivers-clean-air-wherever-you-go-personal-fan-and-hepa-filter-includes-lithium-battery

Two in my household don't like to carry a filter and prefer to take their masks down for each bite, then put it up to chew. That drives me bonkers--I'd much rather set this up and unmask for as short a time as possible. It's rechargeable and can connect to my cell phone power bank if the battery runs out. 

Another option is installing a SIP valve on a mask and drinking a protein shake for lunch.

But I admit most people won't go the lengths I do!

So funny that you brought up a personal filter, because I have thought of getting those several times.  However I was looking  at the much smaller ones you wear and could be used for airline travel.  I think they are worn around your neck.   

How long does the battery on the one you have last?  

[Ausmumof3]

Hosting and a bit worried about exposure right now. 

[bookbard]

44 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Hosting and a bit worried about exposure right now. 

my friend hosted NYE get together last night and sent out a message that she was RAT testing beforehand - which of course reminded us also to RAT test - which meant we were all a bit more comfortable about hanging out together. 

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, bookbard said:

my friend hosted NYE get together last night and sent out a message that she was RAT testing beforehand - which of course reminded us also to RAT test - which meant we were all a bit more comfortable about hanging out together. 

Nice! I’m the only one in extended family that cares anymore and DH also doesn’t so I get to be the paranoid one 

[mommyoffive]

https://caitlinrivers.substack.com/p/outbreak-outlook-national-december-ea4?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1017072&post_id=140183563&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=q2z70&utm_medium=email

[wathe]

On 12/31/2023 at 11:06 AM, mommyoffive said:

Always good to hear that one way masking does work.  I know it might not every single time, but it is good to know it still is useful.

Yes, it does work, thank goodness.  

My personal anecdotal evidence:  I work in a very overcrowded ED and am steeped in resp virus every shift --- up close with sick people, doing high risk procedures etc. I am diligent with my n95, and  I have not yet caught a viral resp illness from work.   I lasted 3.5 years, and finally got covid during international travel, on a trip where eating indoors with others in crowded spaces  and sleeping indoors in shared spaces was unavoidable.

ETA: vast majority of colleagues can also trace their covid infections to outside-of-work social contact.  Usually their kids bring it home from school, or acquired during travel.

Edited January 1 by wathe

[Mom_to3]

I have been so annoyed that vaccinations now have to take place in pharmacies or doc offices where all the sick people go. Drive-through vaccination and testing was sooo amazing while it lasted! Sounds like Walgreens employees are getting sick (literally and physically) of instore covid/flu testing. 

 

[KSera]

1 hour ago, Mom_to3 said:

I have been so annoyed that vaccinations now have to take place in pharmacies or doc offices where all the sick people go. Drive-through vaccination and testing was sooo amazing while it lasted! Sounds like Walgreens employees are getting sick (literally and physically) of instore covid/flu testing. 

 

That’s an awful thread in so many ways. On what planet does it make any sense to send contagious people into a public business that also serves medically fragile people in order for the contagious people to get tested? I guess it’s like it is in healthcare places that don’t require masks. And the selfish anti masking comments… I shouldn’t have read them. Some people truly don’t care about anyone else. 

[Corraleno]

FL Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has called for a halt to the use of all mRNA vaccines in FL, claiming that they are contaminated with foreign DNA and can alter human DNA and become part of the human genome. Ladapo gained notoriety as part of the "Amerca's Frontline Doctors" group, along with Simone Gold (who served 60 days in prison for her role in the January 6 insurrection and who is currently being sued by her own organization for embezzling millions of dollars) and Stella Immanuel (who claims gynecological problems are caused by sex with demons and that most world leaders are demon clones who drink blood). He has been investigated for falsifying reports about the dangers of vaccines and lying about working with covid patients at UCLA. So of course DeSantis decided he was the most qualified person to serve as the state Surgeon General.

Edited January 3 by Corraleno

[kbutton]

15 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

foreign DNA

Foreign like from another country, or foreign like not human, or foreign like contaminants (DNA of a what?)? The crazy goes deep. It would be nice if he lost his license to do anything medical.

[Corraleno]

5 minutes ago, kbutton said:

Foreign like from another country, or foreign like not human, or foreign like contaminants (DNA of a what?)? The crazy goes deep. It would be nice if he lost his license to do anything medical.

Not gonna happen — the entire FL State Board of Medicine was appointed by DeSantis (and 8 of the 14 members were campaign donors).

[kbutton]

16 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

Not gonna happen — the entire FL State Board of Medicine was appointed by DeSantis (and 8 of the 14 members were campaign donors).

Oh, I’m sure. One can hope some attorney finds a way.

[bookbard]

Hearing more and more stories locally about Christmas being derailed by Covid. One guy who isn't elderly (prob in 50s) was saying he caught it on the 22nd and is still only able to get up, cut up some fruit for breakfast, go back to bed, get up, do one thing, go back to bed. Sheer exhaustion (and nasty cough). Another lady, elderly, today was coughing and told me she's still positive (was wearing a mask at least, but I told her she should head home until she's negative). 

 

[Mom_to3]

Just saw articles claiming that hospitals in Italy and Spain are collapsing. We are entering year 5. Will we live like this forever (and who will even want to enter into a health care profession?)

[Ausmumof3]

Furthermore, JN.1 shows a robust resistance to monovalent XBB.1.5 vaccine sera🔥 These suggest that JN.1 is one of the most immune-evading variants to date. S:L455S can contributes to increased immune evasion, which partly explains the increased Re of JN.1. 7/7

[Ausmumof3]

4 hours ago, Mom_to3 said:

Just saw articles claiming that hospitals in Italy and Spain are collapsing. We are entering year 5. Will we live like this forever (and who will even want to enter into a health care profession?)

Maybe? I’m starting to feel like the only way out is through. 
 

We had someone die after waiting ten hours for an ambulance yesterday and hospitals are code white today. There may have been some issues where ED arrivals were prioritised over ambulances but it’s not great. We seem to be slightly earlier than other states with the new variant (or we’re just testing more). 

[Malory]

18 hours ago, Corraleno said:

FL Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has called for a halt to the use of all mRNA vaccines in FL, claiming that they are contaminated with foreign DNA and can alter human DNA and become part of the human genome.

He's not the only one. Over the last few months, several labs and scientists have discovered similar contamination and are calling for a halt until it can be proven that integration into human DNA is not a thing. Here's a preprint: https://osf.io/preprints/osf/mjc97

One of the authors explains it this way:

"... there are currently a number of articles being written about the residual DNA found in Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 product vials. This is good. The presence of many, many tiny (potentially undetectable unless you use the right assay) DNA fragments in the commercial vials is indeed an extremely important issue, and one that warrants mass acknowledgement and subsequent follow-up and continued investigations.

Ultimately, we need to find out (like yesterday) if any of this DNA got integrated into any human genomes. In addition to testing a lot more vials, filling in the data gaps for the dose response curve to prove causal effects of DNA:SAEs (if they exist), we need to test injected people’s stem cells and germ line cells for integration of any of this DNA. Once we can prove in a large enough sample of injected individuals that integration did not occur, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and definitively state that integration of this foreign contaminant DNA is not an issue.

NOT BEFORE." (article)

Kevin McKernan is probably the first scientist to discover this in his lab and since then others have independently seen the same thing. 

Philip Buckhaults testifies in South Carolina Senate Hearing (skip to 3:30 min for most relevant info):

 

[mommyoffive]

https://thosenerdygirls2.substack.com/p/if-i-already-got-the-1-dose-shingles?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2045987&post_id=140332422&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=q2z70&utm_medium=email

Dropping this here even though it isn't about Covid.  I thought some people might be need to know this about the Shingles vaccine. 

[KSera]

1 hour ago, Malory said:

He's not the only one. Over the last few months, several labs and scientists have discovered similar contamination and are calling for a halt until it can be proven that integration into human DNA is not a thing. Here's a preprint: https://osf.io/preprints/osf/mjc97

One of the authors explains it this way:

"... there are currently a number of articles being written about the residual DNA found in Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 product vials. This is good. The presence of many, many tiny (potentially undetectable unless you use the right assay) DNA fragments in the commercial vials is indeed an extremely important issue, and one that warrants mass acknowledgement and subsequent follow-up and continued investigations.

Ultimately, we need to find out (like yesterday) if any of this DNA got integrated into any human genomes. In addition to testing a lot more vials, filling in the data gaps for the dose response curve to prove causal effects of DNA:SAEs (if they exist), we need to test injected people’s stem cells and germ line cells for integration of any of this DNA. Once we can prove in a large enough sample of injected individuals that integration did not occur, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and definitively state that integration of this foreign contaminant DNA is not an issue.

NOT BEFORE." (article)

Kevin McKernan is probably the first scientist to discover this in his lab and since then others have independently seen the same thing. 

Philip Buckhaults testifies in South Carolina Senate Hearing (skip to 3:30 min for most relevant info):

 

These articles might help you feel reassured:

Vaccine Ingredients — DNA

Do DNA Fragments in COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines Cause Harm?

“Dr. Paul Offit explains why it’s virtually impossible for DNA fragments in COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to cause harms, such as cancers or autoimmune diseases.

Dr. Offit describes what would have to happen in order for DNA fragments to cause harm by explaining three protective mechanisms in our cells that DNA fragments from mRNA vaccines cannot overcome. First, the cytoplasm has immune mechanisms and enzymes that destroy foreign DNA. Second, the fragments would have to enter the nucleus, which requires a nuclear membrane access signal that these DNA fragments don't have. Third, even if they were able to enter the nucleus, the fragments would need to have an enzyme called integrase to become part of our DNA, which they also don’t have.

These facts should be reassuring to anyone concerned about a health risk caused by DNA fragments in vaccines.”

[kbutton]

8 hours ago, Mom_to3 said:

 (and who will even want to enter into a health care profession?)

Antivaxers here seem to want to be, and they want to push their anti vaccine agenda. All vaccines, not just Covid. Legislation drafted to that effect that hasn’t passed so far.

[kbutton]

Hospitals here are on and off diverting ambulances and are boarding lots of people in the ER while waiting for beds. Patient shuffling and transfers have all but stopped.