How is the corona virus affecting you?

[The Velvet Curtain]

The UK is really doing well on this Covid issue

Just 70 deaths in the last week* and less than 1000 people in hospital, it does look promising and hopefully by July we will be in a position to start donating vaccines to other countries.

*The UK measures any death for whatever reason within 28 days of a positive covid-19 test, so not all of those deaths may be a direct result of the infection, but perhaps a contributing factor for someone whose end was approaching anyway.

 

[The Velvet Curtain]

So, you ONLY need it for international travel? I like that idea better than having to show any employee of a retailer or restaurant the information.

Yes, having to prove your identity is very un-British.

 

[caseydog]

Yes, having to prove your identity is very un-British.

The MAGA crowd here is going nuts over the possibility of vaccine passports. In their minds, it is another "deep state" plot to control the masses.

Also, there is no way any high-volume retailer like Walmart or Kroger can possibly check every customer for proof of vaccination, and if they tried that in the US, there would be fist-fights at the doors, and probably worse.

CD

 

[JAS_OH1]

How was it for you? My caregiver did fine after the first one but was down for 4 days after the second one. She got Moderna.

I had Moderna, my second shot was April 21 and I was a little under the weather for like 2-3 days, more just tired than anything else and a little mental fog, plus a bit of soreness at the injection spot. After a few days I was fine. My husband had Pfizer both shots, same reactions pretty much.

 

[JAS_OH1]

The MAGA crowd here is going nuts over the possibility of vaccine passports. In their minds, it is another "deep state" plot to control the masses.

Also, there is no way any high-volume retailer like Walmart or Kroger can possibly check every customer for proof of vaccination, and if they tried that in the US, there would be fist-fights at the doors, and probably worse.

CD

Walmart is just going to take people at their word, pretty much. Kroger is just not going to let anyone without a mask in. It's going to cause a lot of confrontation, IMO. I wish we had Kroger here, BTW.

 

[mjd]

I had Moderna, my second shot was April 21 and I was a little under the weather for like 2-3 days, more just tired than anything else and a little mental fog, plus a bit of soreness at the injection spot. After a few days I was fine. My husband had Pfizer both shots, same reactions pretty much.

I'm very happy to hear that neither of you got any of the really bad side effects.

Did you or he get to choose which one you received?

 

[JAS_OH1]

I'm very to hear that neither of you got any of the really bad side effects.

Did you or he get to choose which one you received?

Pretty much. I got an email invitation from my dental group to get the shot and in the email it stated that the only shot they were giving out was Moderna. I went with it. My husband got an appointment at his regular physician's office, and they were only giving out Pfizer, so he was good with that. We had both previously called around to a few pharmacies and asked before trying to make an appointment which vaccine they had, but we weren't successful getting appointments at that time. We both already had decided that we were only going to get the mRNA technology vaccines and knew that if anyone was offering J&J we were just going to hold out until we found either Pfizer or Moderna somewhere.

 

[mjd]

Pretty much. I got an email invitation from my dental group to get the shot and in the email it stated that the only shot they were giving out was Moderna. I went with it. My husband got an appointment at his regular physician's office, and they were only giving out Pfizer, so he was good with that. We had both previously called around to a few pharmacies and asked before trying to make an appointment which vaccine they had, but we weren't successful getting appointments at that time. We both already had decided that we were only going to get the mRNA technology vaccines and knew that if anyone was offering J&J we were just going to hold out until we found either Pfizer or Moderna somewhere.

Would you mind sharing why you didn't want J&J (here or a pm)?

 

[JAS_OH1]

Really? How much longer do you think it should be? I don't disagree with you. I've heard varying opinions about it. It's not really an issue for me since I don't work outside the home but I know many people are excited for the restrictions to be lifted.

I want to watch the numbers. The cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in Ohio have gone down considerably, but lifting the mask mandate in June is going to change things I am pretty sure. I want to see if cases, hospitalizations, and deaths go up (I think they will) before I let my guard down more. I also don't know if I ever want to go into a public place without a mask on again. I have enjoyed missing out on cold and flu season completely. Not a sniffle other than allergies in over a year? I'll take it.

 

[mjd]

I want to watch the numbers. The cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in Ohio have gone down considerably, but lifting the mask mandate in June is going to change things I am pretty sure. I want to see if cases, hospitalizations, and deaths go up (I think they will) before I let my guard down more. I also don't know if I ever want to go into a public place without a mask on again. I have enjoyed missing out on cold and flu season completely. Not a sniffle other than allergies in over a year? I'll take it.

I hear you. I worked myself into a frenzy watching what was going on in Brazil and India. Like you, I hope this isn't a mad rush to only get back to where we started. It feels like this has all been a bad dream for 15 months.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Would you mind sharing why you didn't want J&J (here or a pm)?

I have no problem stating publicly my feelings on that vaccine. In clinical trials, the mRNA vaccines were shown to be 80%-90% effective, while the J&J vaccine was around 60%. Now any one of these vaccines would give the recipient antibodies, it's just that Pfizer and Moderna are more effective. Turns out they have fewer side effects. No one knew at the time that J&J could possibly cause lethal blood clots, especially in women of a certain age. But my friend Sue got the J&J shot and she was violently ill for over 5 days. She had fever, chills, sore throat, and digestive issues at both ends. She said she hurt so bad that even her teeth hurt.

I had also studied about mRNA technology in pathophysiology class while I was in school getting my medical transcriptionist training, so I was super excited about the potential of that vaccine, plus the way it works, all they have to do is tweak a few codes to combat mutations. Viruses mutate and it will take time for new vaccines using other technology. The mRNA technology is far superior, IMO. And turns out fewer side effects.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Really? How much longer do you think it should be? I don't disagree with you. I've heard varying opinions about it. It's not really an issue for me since I don't work outside the home but I know many people are excited for the restrictions to be lifted.

I can work somewhat from home when I want to do so, I am semi-retired now so I really don't need to work. But I do love to go to concerts. That's been a big thing for me all of my adult life and I hate not being able to go to shows and venues. Oddly enough I don't like crowds in bars (the ones that do not have live music, anyway) and restaurants but don't mind them at concerts.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Speaking to my sister last night, she said the Novavax vaccine should be approved in the next week or two. That will be another vaccine available.

CD

I cleaned up on that stock. I paid about $4 a share for it. I sold it around $200 a share. At one point it was over $300 a share, now back in the $100s again. Weirdly enough, Pfizer stock hasn't changed that much, it's around $40 a share (I own it too).

 

[mjd]

I have no problem stating publicly my feelings on that vaccine. In clinical trials, the mRNA vaccines were shown to be 80%-90% effective, while the J&J vaccine was around 60%. Now any one of these vaccines would give the recipient antibodies, it's just that Pfizer and Moderna are more effective. Turns out they have fewer side effects. No one knew at the time that J&J could possibly cause lethal blood clots, especially in women of a certain age. But my friend Sue got the J&J shot and she was violently ill for over 5 days. She had fever, chills, sore throat, and digestive issues at both ends. She said she hurt so bad that even her teeth hurt.

I had also studied about mRNA technology in pathophysiology class while I was in school getting my medical transcriptionist training, so I was super excited about the potential of that vaccine, plus the way it works, all they have to do is tweak a few codes to combat mutations. Viruses mutate and it will take time for new vaccines using other technology. The mRNA technology is far superior, IMO. And turns out fewer side effects.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me about this.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me about this.

Oh, no problem at all!

Additionally I would like to add that I wish they would have more antibody tests available to see who still has antibodies from a previous infection. They think it's likely that antibodies from an infection are going to diminish with time, and that's why it's important that even people who have had Covid already get vaccinated.

It would also be great to find out whether or not Moderna and Pfizer are effective against all of the variants. I would also like to see booster shots for the vaccines, especially vaccines that are tweaked to target the variants and mutations. I suppose some of that will come out eventually. I think the problem is that there are still going to be reinfections with vaccinated people who are asymptomatic and don't know that they are sick, and they are going to go around and give it to people who haven't been vaccinated yet, and then hospitalizations and deaths are going to go up.

There are certain red states with a large republican affiliation who have said that they will not ever get a vaccine. There are also idiots who still believe that the virus is a hoax, and there are loonies out there who believe that the vaccine is a design by the government to put microchips inside of people to track them (and I think that those weird QAnon people think that aliens want to microchip us?). I can't wrap my head around any of that.