Coronavirus **personal experiences** thread

I’m going to wait and see. If things go backwards next winter and news of vaccinated people getting seriously sick goes up then yes I will get a booster. I was encouraged by news of antibody evidence found in bone marrow but not showing up in regular tests.

I tried that, but it is not an option.

to get a shot, I must apply to the Health Department, my name must be on the list approved by the Health Department, when I go to one of the places that administers the shots., and the Health Department wont give me that approval, because Im already vaccinated, until the CDC (US Federal Govt Center for Disease Control) authorizes boosters…

the word booster does not necessarily mean a different design of vaccine… I would be happy to just get a shot of any of the available vaccines.

Here in USA there are still many places that have failed to achieve a 50% vaccination rate. And those people are travelling, without masks on. They come from places that have no Mask Mandate. In fact, the CDC has lifted the mask mandate nationwide now. Technically the no mask option is supposed to be only for people that are fully vaccinated. But there is no way to tell if a person with no mask is vaccinated, or simply chose not to cooperate.

At present, the available vaccines are reserved for people that have not had any.

its kind of like going to a banquet dinner, and everybody gets served, before anybody gets seconds… Right now, half the people in USA, have not been served the first course, and half of those do not want to eat.

this has created a huge reserve of unvaccinated people who are passing the corona around. Unvaccinated people now represent the largest portion of people infected, and dying, in this country. But they are not just a risk to themselves, it affects everyone they come in contact with.

From where I sit, the large number of people who are refusing the vaccine, are my main risk. The unvaccinated are the reason I want to extend my protection, by getting another shot.

I have not seen my family in Cali in almost 2 years. I do not feel protected enough to go travelling through airports, on a 4 month old vaccine. fwiw, the J&J vaccine I got was a single shot, and has a lower protection rate than the dual shot vaccines.

this is also true of people that had covid, they are less protected than people that are vaccinated. Unvaccinated people that had covid, can catch it again. But most people that had covid, mistakenly think they are immune for life, so they do not wear masks either.

I’ve been struggling with the same dilemma about travel as has jon_slider. I have been concerned not only with infecting my elderly father (88), but also with trying not to infect other people who might not be vaccinated or immune for various reasons. I haven’t seen my father, and my brother and his family, since November, 2019. I was hoping that the pandemic would have calmed enough by the late summer or autumn that I could travel by airline and it would be fine, although I had decided to skip the Thanksgiving crowds this year. However, with the onslaught of the new variants and the increase in infections in many areas, that did not come to pass. The new variants are more infectious by far than the old.

My father had his vaccinations before I did. I had my second shot in mid-April. My sister, who is a medical doctor and epidemiologist, has been traveling since she was vaccinated last winter. I’ve been more cautious. Other doctors, when I asked for advice on whether to travel and risk airports and airplanes, said: “You have the other side of the risk, also - that your father is getting older and time is passing.” They advised me to travel while my vaccines are still effective.

Pfizer said last week that, based on the reported results of a study in Israel, it is seeing waning of its vaccine’s effectiveness at preventing infection and preventing serious illness at around six months post vaccination. The reported effectiveness in preventing serious illness after six months in that study was down to about 64%. I am guessing that the CDC does not now agree with Pfizer’s recommendation that we get boosters if we had that company’s vaccine because there is not yet enough evidence to show that definitively. They probably want to see the results of at least another study - preferably from the USA - but that’s just a guess on my part.

I’m still not sure what to do - but I think what I’m going to do is to make airline reservations to visit my family before the six-month mark after my second shot (if I can get reservations). I will also maybe wear an N95 mask, or possibly a ASTM Level 3 mask, when I travel. I will also probably maintain some distance between me and my family, just to be on the safe side, especially with my father. And of course, wash my hands when I get to my destination.

Everyone in my family is vaccinated, except for a 2 year old grand daughter, and we’ve taken several flights in the last month to help one of our daughter’s move for a job change. My wife and I were vaccinated (1st shot of Moderna 2/28) and the other 4 in our family afterwards (J&J or Pfizer). Obviously we wore masks in the airport and plane per regulations, and when shopping or otherwise indoors but not when walking around (Los Angeles and Seattle).

None of us got sick and hopefully that will remain the case when we make the final move-in trip in 2 weeks.

If it was me I’d go visit your dad as long as everyone was vaccinated and other precautions that you mentioned were taken. Sooner the better I think given the declining effectiveness from the initial shots. Of course it’s a personally decision that only you can make.

As soon as booster shots are authorized or able to be taken I’m going in for one. :+1:

But if vaccine X is “90% effective”, what about that leftover 10%? They could be walking around thinking they’re “protected” and end up a breakthrough case, and get it and spread it, even though they have the imprimatur of being “fully vaccinated” and allowed to walk around unmasked.

So those situations aren’t all that different. Whether you got the bug and think you’re immune, or got the vax and think you’re immune, it’s the same thing.

Based upon my experience with my second Moderna I will be waiting as long as I feel I can before getting any additional shots.

From what I have read & been told by Medical Professionals I know… noboby really knows the real absolute truth yet about these infection, re-infection speculations regarding vaccinated & unvaccinated people who have already had CV.

Apparently both can be infected & re-infected with CV. But each group should have a milder case if re-infected.

Both catagories can spread the CV if re-infected… whether they know they have it or not.

There are no firm & fast rules that apply & can be considered fact at this point.

Time will tell, much is still unknown.

I’m no infectious disease expert or epidemiologist, but it seems to me that, in calculating the probability that you’re going to get significantly ill from Covid-19, you need to look at both the probability that you’ll get infected, and the probability that getting infected will give you serious illness. Looking at both of those factors, it seems to me that being vaccinated provides a longer protection, even if you’ve already been infected with SARS-Covid-2. The reasons for that are that the protective effect from the vaccination in boosting your antibodies to the virus seems to last longer than the protective effect of contracting the virus, and also the probability that you will get seriously ill if you contract the virus and are vaccinated is very low, because the vaccines are very effective at preventing serious illness. In addition, recent scientific reports on studies of health care front-line workers indicate that the mRNA vaccines also seem to significantly lower the risk of being infected with the virus in the first place (link to reports not posted due to forum rules).

I received the J&J in March.
I think I want a booster.
I am in NM like jon_slider and couldn’t get one right now by any legal means.

Part of me is skeptical about Pfizer’s declaration. They do have a financial interest in selling more vaccines and if the CDC stated it was a good thing to do they would have millions of people here in the US lining up to get a booster. Part of me wants to believe they also might also want to benefit the general public health.

Careful, friends, we’re treading on dangerous ground. Remember; personal experience— not personal opinion, not recent hearsay. Not that those are necessarily bad but they almost always escalate into something more.

As I wrote before, I took my first Pfizer shot last friday. Only had slight pain in the arm, put some ice several times in the same day and didn’t have any other symptoms besides that. So far so good. :+1:

Also, some data from my country: in almost 3.000.000 people with the vaccination complete, only 3.850 got infected. This is 0,1% of the vaccinated people (not the country’s population). This proves that the vaccines are not 100% effective, but I guess it proves more that without them the scenario would be far worse. I haven’t searched about how many of those 3580 people had severe symptoms or needed to go to hospital.

70% of the adult population here has taken at least 1 shot.

Keep safe folks :+1:

Part of me knows that if money wasnt involved, they would be doing something else. Greed is the motivation for almost everything now.

Yep… sad but true.

To get to the bottom of anything just about, Follow the money… ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MONEY. :white_check_mark:

I heard this on today's news...

The number COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have doubled in the past week.

I thought the U.S. was doing pretty well, but apparently not.

EDIT:

I heard this on the CBS Evening News.

I have since heard a totally different statistic that makes me doubt what I originally heard.

On another network, they reported that the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have doubled in the past three weeks.

This sounds more likely to me.

Sorry for the confusion.

Personal experience
I had one shot of J&J in March

I contacted the Health Department to request a booster.
I also asked my doctor.

They both said no, because CDC has not authorized boosters yet.

I insisted, the Health Department said I could get an Antibody test, and IF the values are low, they will authorize a booster.

Contacted my doctor, requested the Antibody test… Doctor says, that will be $150 out of pocket. I say no thanks and call the Health Department back. They agree with my doctor, I must pay for the antibody test myself, and Maybe if I dont have antibodies after 4 months from a single shot, they Might authorize a booster.

Basically, no, I cannot have a second shot, because J&J is a one shot vaccine.

Ive been reading online that people in other places are going in for a second shot after a J&J. I dont know how they are pulling it off. The system here is preventing me from getting a second dose.

The Health Department told me to read the J&J site, which will supposedly reassure me that I dont need a booster, or second shot. Meanwhile CDC is considering when to authorize second shots for J&J vaccinated people. I hope that CDC will offer me a second shot.

I would have liked to know if I have antibodies but am not prepared to pay the $150 to find out.

Everywhere I go, people have stopped wearing masks… I worry about the Delta spreading, and want a second shot.

I remember when I was trying to get vaccinated, I actually wanted the J&J because it was just one shot.

My mom tried to find me the J&J, but couldn't.

Instead I got the Moderna, and I feel very lucky that I did.

(Both the Moderna and Pfizer are the gold standard right now.)

I think that the CDC will eventually tell those that got the J&J to be a booster of one of the others, but they're waiting for more data to come in. <-- That's a Corona beer by the way.

Hey, you’re clean and sober, remember?

Yeah, but I remember how refreshing a nice cold beer is, and I like the beer emoji.

From preliminary data it seems that the Johnson vaccin is less good than Pfizer and Moderna in protecting you from contracting the delta variant and stop you spreading it, but that it does protect you very well from getting severe COVID and from death. So in the general interest of stopping the virus going around society a booster after the J&J vaccin could be a clever idea.

But of course Pfizer wants to earn money too.

I just thought of something...

Instead of having no spectators at most events of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, why not require proof of vaccination and just have those people be the spectators?

It's been done for other (non-Olympic) events, and that way there are some spectators.

...

EDIT:

Here's an answer to my own question.

Japan is less than 30% fully vaccinated, so that make things tougher.

(They lag behind the U.S. in vaccinations, as a whole.)