7 ms·

> We are still not anti-vax at all. In fact, I might go for my next booster today. I'm curious about this. In my world COVID is over now. I live in San Francis

> We are still not anti-vax at all. In fact, I might go for my next booster today. I'm curious about this. In my world COVID is over now. I live in San Francisco. Nobody I know is getting boosters or is worried about it anymore. Where do you live and what are the circumstances like there that you're considering getting your "next" one? (you've been boosted before?).

enragedcacti 4y ago
Not the OP but: Covid definitely isn't over, it's just that we've gotten better at treating it and people have decided that they are over it. It is still killing almost 2000 people a week in the US and it's very possible that we will see a huge spike in that as we get further into winter. the "next" booster is referring to the updated vaccine that more effectively targets the dominant "Omicron" variant.
- sharken 4y ago
  At least provide some facts to the 2000 people a week claim.
  - greenyoda 4y ago
    The CDC is reporting 2344 COVID deaths per week: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
    - origin_path 4y ago
      Be aware that since Omicron virtually all of those are dying "with" COVID, not of it. Examples collected from the Milwaukee coroner's office: https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/six-recent-covid-deaths-per-the-milwaukee/comments https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/six-recent-covid-deaths-... That's why the age skew is so high.
  - Avshalom 4y ago
    https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00 https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeath... The last time it was under 2000 was july '21
  - cmh89 4y ago
    https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
  - MaysonL 4y ago
    https://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2022/11/covid-nov-11-2022-update-on-cases.html https://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2022/11/covid-nov-11-2022...
  - NeutronStar 4y ago
- no_butterscotch 4y ago
  > the "next" booster is referring to the updated vaccine that more effectively targets the dominant "Omicron" variant. Ah thanks for the context. I've only gotten the J&J vax (the worst one?) back in April of 2021, no boosters. I considered getting one but by then they were recommending boosters every few months and I decided to just "risk" it by not getting them? (I'm in my 30s and in good shape/health so don't feel vulnerable, but I understand that could be hubris and back-fire).
  - Izkata 4y ago
    > I've only gotten the J&J vax (the worst one?) Back in those first few months I was keeping an eye on reports of side-effects, and J&J actually looked like the safest of the 4 available in the US. But it and AstraZeneca got absolutely vilified while any claims against Pfizer and Moderna got ignored as crazy conspiracies.
    - SoftTalker 4y ago
      I've also only got the J&J, once, only because my employer was threatening me with termination if I didn't get vaccinated. They actually never followed through on that threat for those that held out. I wish I hadn't. Lesson learned, never again.
    - jessaustin 4y ago
      Pfizer and Moderna have better PR departments.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- mikysco 4y ago
  Always worth pointing out COVID (very) disproportionately kills the elderly (75+) https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographicsovertime https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographicsoverti... These stats don't indicate whether other confounding factors led to an individual's death.
eftychis 4y ago
People I know are getting COVID in the Bay Area -- multiple weeks sick (I can count at least 6 -- in the moment -- for the span of middle of October until now). We are still in the pandemic. The problem is it has to stop everywhere for us to get complacent. Especially, given that everyone wants to travel -- and travel abroad. Pandemic is here. Nothing is over. We are distracted with other things. Things are "good" in San Francisco and the Bay now. No guarantee it will be so tomorrow.
- daliusd 4y ago
  It is endemic not pandemic anymore.
  - Fomite 4y ago
    Endemic has a specific meaning - that there is an expected number of cases in a given population. That's not really established for COVID-19. Also, endemic doesn't mean something doesn't matter. In much of Africa, malaria is endemic. What you mean is "As a society we stopped caring."
    - mensetmanusman 4y ago
      Not necessarily, endemic might mean that it matters, but those who are especially at risk are taking more precautions. E.g. I see lots of young not wearing masks to protect themselves, and I see more older people protecting themselves with masks. Seems like a reasonable balance.
  - eftychis 4y ago
    Pandemic means it is endemic "everywhere." https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/pandemic-vs-endemic#which-is-worse https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/pandemic-vs-endemi... It does not describe severity. Ebola is endemic in parts of Africa. I still hope nobody gets it. We can change the meanings of words for political reasons but who do we do a disservice too? Given that it is a word from my mother language I find it a bit insulting when politicians decide to change my language though to benefit for a year or two. Tl;Dr: Saying that covid is "endemic" to the whole world, is an insult to my ears, logic, and a whole language and people. They should pick a different word if they want to disagree with doctors worldwide.
gizmo686 4y ago
Or maybe no one you know is talking about it. A few weeks ago, I went for my annual Flu vaccine and saw that I was eligible for the bivalent Covid booster as well. I didn’t go around telling people I got either vaccine. At this point, as far as I am concerned, covid is jtst another vaccine to be taken routinely as directed. Maybe that will settle down to be anually like the flu, once or twice a lifetime like chicken pox, or something in between like TDAP (once per decade)
- dham 4y ago
  But TDAP only needs to be taken once every 20 to 30 years. :facepalm: Just another outdated Americanized vaccine schedule to add to the list.
_ea1k 4y ago
TBH, I tend to agree. Vaccines are readily available and most of us have been exposed to COVID at some point. By this point, there is little reason for behavior modification. The boosters likely make sense for some people, but there's little real data on their effectiveness. Outside of the more vulnerable, I'd avoid them personally. The proof just isn't readily available of continuous boosters being worth it to me.
- _ea1k 4y ago
  I'd love it if the downvoters could point me to effectiveness data on the new targeted booster.
robomartin 4y ago
> Where do you live and what are the circumstances like there that you're considering getting your "next" one? (you've been boosted before?). Los Angeles. I know lots of vaccinated people who are getting infected. Just last week I went to a conference here in LA. I was going to meet-up this week with on of the people I saw there. He told me he got COVID at the conference. Yes, I've had one booster. I travel a lot for business. I think it might be prudent to take further precautions. I have no reason to believe this is unsafe for me.
gravelc 4y ago
Circumstances change - super super glad I got my booster. When I got it, I was a healthy, fit person without any of the comorbidities that go along with COVID. Last week I had a mountain biking accident and broke half my ribs and punctured a lung. Then I got COVID in hospital. Fortunately it was quite mild, and even that was a bit of a nightmare as coughing was hell and I had quite low blood oxygen. Given the risks of a booster are so low (though non-zero) and the risk that your health can change before you manage to contract COVID, it seems like the smart proposition to me to get the booster.
xboxnolifes 4y ago
My world is split. In my family sphere, covid is over. Though, to them covid was always overblown with the response being worse than the illness. In my main friend group, most still feel we are still in the middle of covid. Though, from my perspective, their words/fears seem to differ from their actions.
ipqk 4y ago
People aren't talking about it anymore, but that doesn't mean that they aren't getting boosters. Like, I just got my flu shot, but haven't mentioned it to anyone.
asveikau 4y ago
> Nobody I know is getting boosters or is worried about it anymore Your San Francisco social circles are different from mine. Most people I talk to about this got the bivalent booster and got the old booster last year. But people do not seem super worried at this phase. The booster is something routine like a flu shot.
- exodust 4y ago
  Last I checked only about 50% of people ever get the flu shot routinely. And isn't the idea of flu shot that it prevents symptomatic infection? The whole reason why people get the flu shot is they don't want to get the flu. Covid vaccine doesn't stop symptoms the same way.
  - asveikau 4y ago
    > And isn't the idea of flu shot that it prevents symptomatic infection? I don't recall it ever being sold to me as that, and though I regularly get them, I've never gotten a flu shot with that expectation. It reduces your odds and makes the thing more mild. That's the point. That's what I've been told my whole life. They're not magic solutions to everything in your life, they can't even be 100% sure about how to tweak them for the dominant strains that season, but they help. This stuff makes people go a little crazy with unreasonable expectations. I remember people complaining in pre-pandemic years ... "the flu shot is only x% effective so why bother?" And the reason has always been that x > 0, any two-digit number for x is pretty worth it, even if it intuitively sounds small. It's pretty similar for COVID.

enragedcacti 4y ago

Not the OP but: Covid definitely isn't over, it's just that we've gotten better at treating it and people have decided that they are over it. It is still killing almost 2000 people a week in the US and it's very possible that we will see a huge spike in that as we get further into winter. the "next" booster is referring to the updated vaccine that more effectively targets the dominant "Omicron" variant.

sharken 4y ago
At least provide some facts to the 2000 people a week claim.
- greenyoda 4y ago
  The CDC is reporting 2344 COVID deaths per week: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
  - origin_path 4y ago
    Be aware that since Omicron virtually all of those are dying "with" COVID, not of it. Examples collected from the Milwaukee coroner's office: https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/six-recent-covid-deaths-per-the-milwaukee/comments https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/six-recent-covid-deaths-... That's why the age skew is so high.
- Avshalom 4y ago
  https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00 https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeath... The last time it was under 2000 was july '21
- cmh89 4y ago
  https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
- MaysonL 4y ago
  https://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2022/11/covid-nov-11-2022-update-on-cases.html https://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2022/11/covid-nov-11-2022...
- NeutronStar 4y ago
no_butterscotch 4y ago
> the "next" booster is referring to the updated vaccine that more effectively targets the dominant "Omicron" variant. Ah thanks for the context. I've only gotten the J&J vax (the worst one?) back in April of 2021, no boosters. I considered getting one but by then they were recommending boosters every few months and I decided to just "risk" it by not getting them? (I'm in my 30s and in good shape/health so don't feel vulnerable, but I understand that could be hubris and back-fire).
- Izkata 4y ago
  > I've only gotten the J&J vax (the worst one?) Back in those first few months I was keeping an eye on reports of side-effects, and J&J actually looked like the safest of the 4 available in the US. But it and AstraZeneca got absolutely vilified while any claims against Pfizer and Moderna got ignored as crazy conspiracies.
  - SoftTalker 4y ago
    I've also only got the J&J, once, only because my employer was threatening me with termination if I didn't get vaccinated. They actually never followed through on that threat for those that held out. I wish I hadn't. Lesson learned, never again.
  - jessaustin 4y ago
    Pfizer and Moderna have better PR departments.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
mikysco 4y ago
Always worth pointing out COVID (very) disproportionately kills the elderly (75+) https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographicsovertime https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographicsoverti... These stats don't indicate whether other confounding factors led to an individual's death.

eftychis 4y ago

People I know are getting COVID in the Bay Area -- multiple weeks sick (I can count at least 6 -- in the moment -- for the span of middle of October until now). We are still in the pandemic. The problem is it has to stop everywhere for us to get complacent. Especially, given that everyone wants to travel -- and travel abroad. Pandemic is here. Nothing is over. We are distracted with other things. Things are "good" in San Francisco and the Bay now. No guarantee it will be so tomorrow.

daliusd 4y ago
It is endemic not pandemic anymore.
- Fomite 4y ago
  Endemic has a specific meaning - that there is an expected number of cases in a given population. That's not really established for COVID-19. Also, endemic doesn't mean something doesn't matter. In much of Africa, malaria is endemic. What you mean is "As a society we stopped caring."
  - mensetmanusman 4y ago
    Not necessarily, endemic might mean that it matters, but those who are especially at risk are taking more precautions. E.g. I see lots of young not wearing masks to protect themselves, and I see more older people protecting themselves with masks. Seems like a reasonable balance.
- eftychis 4y ago
  Pandemic means it is endemic "everywhere." https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/pandemic-vs-endemic#which-is-worse https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/pandemic-vs-endemi... It does not describe severity. Ebola is endemic in parts of Africa. I still hope nobody gets it. We can change the meanings of words for political reasons but who do we do a disservice too? Given that it is a word from my mother language I find it a bit insulting when politicians decide to change my language though to benefit for a year or two. Tl;Dr: Saying that covid is "endemic" to the whole world, is an insult to my ears, logic, and a whole language and people. They should pick a different word if they want to disagree with doctors worldwide.

gizmo686 4y ago

Or maybe no one you know is talking about it. A few weeks ago, I went for my annual Flu vaccine and saw that I was eligible for the bivalent Covid booster as well. I didn’t go around telling people I got either vaccine. At this point, as far as I am concerned, covid is jtst another vaccine to be taken routinely as directed. Maybe that will settle down to be anually like the flu, once or twice a lifetime like chicken pox, or something in between like TDAP (once per decade)

dham 4y ago
But TDAP only needs to be taken once every 20 to 30 years. :facepalm: Just another outdated Americanized vaccine schedule to add to the list.

_ea1k 4y ago

TBH, I tend to agree. Vaccines are readily available and most of us have been exposed to COVID at some point. By this point, there is little reason for behavior modification. The boosters likely make sense for some people, but there's little real data on their effectiveness. Outside of the more vulnerable, I'd avoid them personally. The proof just isn't readily available of continuous boosters being worth it to me.

_ea1k 4y ago
I'd love it if the downvoters could point me to effectiveness data on the new targeted booster.

robomartin 4y ago

> Where do you live and what are the circumstances like there that you're considering getting your "next" one? (you've been boosted before?). Los Angeles. I know lots of vaccinated people who are getting infected. Just last week I went to a conference here in LA. I was going to meet-up this week with on of the people I saw there. He told me he got COVID at the conference. Yes, I've had one booster. I travel a lot for business. I think it might be prudent to take further precautions. I have no reason to believe this is unsafe for me.

gravelc 4y ago

Circumstances change - super super glad I got my booster. When I got it, I was a healthy, fit person without any of the comorbidities that go along with COVID. Last week I had a mountain biking accident and broke half my ribs and punctured a lung. Then I got COVID in hospital. Fortunately it was quite mild, and even that was a bit of a nightmare as coughing was hell and I had quite low blood oxygen. Given the risks of a booster are so low (though non-zero) and the risk that your health can change before you manage to contract COVID, it seems like the smart proposition to me to get the booster.

xboxnolifes 4y ago

My world is split. In my family sphere, covid is over. Though, to them covid was always overblown with the response being worse than the illness. In my main friend group, most still feel we are still in the middle of covid. Though, from my perspective, their words/fears seem to differ from their actions.

ipqk 4y ago

People aren't talking about it anymore, but that doesn't mean that they aren't getting boosters. Like, I just got my flu shot, but haven't mentioned it to anyone.

asveikau 4y ago

> Nobody I know is getting boosters or is worried about it anymore Your San Francisco social circles are different from mine. Most people I talk to about this got the bivalent booster and got the old booster last year. But people do not seem super worried at this phase. The booster is something routine like a flu shot.

exodust 4y ago
Last I checked only about 50% of people ever get the flu shot routinely. And isn't the idea of flu shot that it prevents symptomatic infection? The whole reason why people get the flu shot is they don't want to get the flu. Covid vaccine doesn't stop symptoms the same way.
- asveikau 4y ago
  > And isn't the idea of flu shot that it prevents symptomatic infection? I don't recall it ever being sold to me as that, and though I regularly get them, I've never gotten a flu shot with that expectation. It reduces your odds and makes the thing more mild. That's the point. That's what I've been told my whole life. They're not magic solutions to everything in your life, they can't even be 100% sure about how to tweak them for the dominant strains that season, but they help. This stuff makes people go a little crazy with unreasonable expectations. I remember people complaining in pre-pandemic years ... "the flu shot is only x% effective so why bother?" And the reason has always been that x > 0, any two-digit number for x is pretty worth it, even if it intuitively sounds small. It's pretty similar for COVID.