Covid-19 News/Discussion

[ramssuperbowl99]

1 minute ago, MWil23 said:

I don't fault anyone either way, and to those who get theirs vaccinated immediately, THANK YOU! I will definitely be looking at the increased data, and I'm still 90% certain that it's probably really solid. I'm just going to take an extra month or two to make that decision, and as soon as I get that clarification from a doctor/pharmacist (shocking revelation, but I guess I'll listen to experts as opposed to a mommy blog...weird stuff here) and the green light, I'll take them in immediately and get them vaccinated.

I would set a target where you'd be comfortable and stick to it. Otherwise, you might get into the "well what's another week" loop.

[Xenos]

31 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

I don't fault anyone either way, and to those who get theirs vaccinated immediately, THANK YOU! I will definitely be looking at the increased data, and I'm still 90% certain that it's probably really solid. I'm just going to take an extra month or two to make that decision, and as soon as I get that clarification from a doctor/pharmacist (shocking revelation, but I guess I'll listen to experts as opposed to a mommy blog...weird stuff here) and the green light, I'll take them in immediately and get them vaccinated.

I’ll be in the same boat if they ever release a vaccine for 2 and up. Should I wait a little bit longer just to be safe? My in-laws make the decision somewhat easier since they don’t believe in the Covid vaccines, and unfortunately have fallen in line with all the other alternative treatments like ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine 🤦‍♂️

Edited October 29, 2021 by Xenos

[MWil23]

45 minutes ago, ramssuperbowl99 said:

I would set a target where you'd be comfortable and stick to it. Otherwise, you might get into the "well what's another week" loop.

As of now, I’ll reevaluate during Christmas. I can’t get my booster until around December 18 or so given my last Covid incident, so 2 months feels fair…maybe New Years.

[MWil23]

17 minutes ago, Xenos said:

’ll be in the same boat if they ever release a vaccine for 2 and up. Should I wait a little bit longer just to be safe? 

I get that. My youngest is 3. She also is a bit on the smaller side and we’ve had to wait to do the flu shot with her in the past (she got hers last year), so it’s definitely a case by case thing IMO.

[incognito_man]

24 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

I get that. My youngest is 3. She also is a bit on the smaller side and we’ve had to wait to do the flu shot with her in the past (she got hers last year), so it’s definitely a case by case thing IMO.

Like every other parent, I'm far more protective about them in decisions like this as well and I'll read a lot about it than I did for my personal vaccine. It's a lot different making that choice for my 36 year old adult body with a lifetime of personal knowledge about than it is for my daughter (also on the small side) who barely hits the low-end of the age cut-off.

Ultimately, though, she has never had an adverse effect from any shot/food/environment she's encountered so far and her mother is in health-care and whose opinion I trust 100% and we will likely agree to get her vaccinated almost immediately when it's available for her.

Math tells me the combined risks of short AND long-term Covid are much, much worse than the risk of the vaccine.

[incognito_man]

@ramssuperbowl99 @Shanedorf

Are there any good sources/articles you'd recommend for digesting some information on Covid-specific (or mRNA in general) vaccines as it relates to adolescents, dosage, age and body-weight? i.e. is it any more weight-centered or age-centered when it comes to children and immune response/vaccine handling?

I guess I'm curious if I should like consider setting a weight milestone for my children, or age-milestone (or some combination thereof) when considering this.

[Shanedorf]

Those are good questions, here's what I know. 
Most of the pediatric drug approvals are age-based because you're talking about developmental timelines. For example a 2 yr old's liver isn't just a small version of an adult liver-  its actually a different organ in terms of function - so that means they metabolize certain drugs differently.
FDA typically has age groups for peds of
0-6 months
6 months- 2yrs
2-5 yrs
5-11
12-17

They'll test at each age range and approve drugs based on those ranges. Then they move on to the next younger crew. We all got vaccinated with multiples within days/weeks of birth so there's a lot of safety and efficacy data for those other vaccines like DPT, Hep, Mumps, measles etc so we have good experience in this arena

For you and MWil, the developmental age is probably more important than actual weight so far as a vaccine is concerned. There is enough of a safety margin so that a relatively smaller child won't be adversely affected by the dosage approved for that age group.

For a drug, the steady concentration in the kids' bloodstream is important, for a vaccine, its a different story. You need enough vaccine to stimulate an immune response, but you don't need to maintain that concentration for very long. A matter of hours. So weight is less important

Whereas for a medicine to work - you need to keep the levels up for a period of time. Think about a course of antibiotics - they'll often do 7-10 days of dosing and that's when weight can become a more important criteria.
A vaccine is one dose on one day, and then nothing more until its booster time.

 

[MWil23]

2 hours ago, incognito_man said:

Math tells me the combined risks of short AND long-term Covid are much, much worse than the risk of the vaccine.

No doubt, but the myocarditis side effects they’re seeing from it and coupled with my family history and a couple of my kids and their unique health situations make this a challenge 

[Xenos]

@Deadpulse good news?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/u-supreme-court-rejects-religious-215923095.html

[Xenos]

New CDC study states that vaccination works better than natural immunity.

https://news.yahoo.com/vaccine-confers-better-protection-than-natural-immunity-cdc-finds-201511956.html

Quote

The new study finds that people who had natural immunity from having recently fought off COVID-19 and who were not vaccinated were 5.49 times more likely to experience another COVID-19 infection than were vaccinated people who had not previously been infected.

“The data demonstrate that vaccination can provide a higher, more robust, and more consistent level of immunity to protect people from hospitalization for COVID-19 than infection alone for at least 6 months,” a CDC press release said.

 

[incognito_man]

15 hours ago, Shanedorf said:

Those are good questions, here's what I know. 
Most of the pediatric drug approvals are age-based because you're talking about developmental timelines. For example a 2 yr old's liver isn't just a small version of an adult liver-  its actually a different organ in terms of function - so that means they metabolize certain drugs differently.
FDA typically has age groups for peds of
0-6 months
6 months- 2yrs
2-5 yrs
5-11
12-17

They'll test at each age range and approve drugs based on those ranges. Then they move on to the next younger crew. We all got vaccinated with multiples within days/weeks of birth so there's a lot of safety and efficacy data for those other vaccines like DPT, Hep, Mumps, measles etc so we have good experience in this arena

For you and MWil, the developmental age is probably more important than actual weight so far as a vaccine is concerned. There is enough of a safety margin so that a relatively smaller child won't be adversely affected by the dosage approved for that age group.

For a drug, the steady concentration in the kids' bloodstream is important, for a vaccine, its a different story. You need enough vaccine to stimulate an immune response, but you don't need to maintain that concentration for very long. A matter of hours. So weight is less important

Whereas for a medicine to work - you need to keep the levels up for a period of time. Think about a course of antibiotics - they'll often do 7-10 days of dosing and that's when weight can become a more important criteria.
A vaccine is one dose on one day, and then nothing more until its booster time.

 

Thank you, good sir

[TVScout]

Paywalled:

Intelligence agencies elaborate on theories of covid-19 origins.

The intelligence community’s unclassified assessment didn’t change the summary of its conclusions that were reported last August, which reached few definitive answers about the origins of the virus, a question that has vexed scientists and become a political flash point.

 

Ultimately, the newly released intelligence assessment shows government analysts puzzling over the same questions and pursuing the same inconclusive leads as scientists who’ve been working for nearly two years without the benefit of secret intelligence.

 

But the document provides a fuller explanation for why some intelligence analysts ultimately came down in favor of a “lab-leak” hypothesis as the most likely explanation and others determined that the virus probably emerged in nature, when an infected animal passed the pathogen to a human.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-intelligence-covid-origins/2021/10/29/4aa23632-38de-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html

[KManX89]

Great news: just recovered from a cold, which just happens to be my first in Lord knows how many years, and yes, I can say cold because I just got the negative Covid test back a few days ago!

[WizeGuy]

I'll be getting my two year old vaxxed as soon as it's available, but I will admit- I'm pretty lenient with him since he's a healthy two year old. It's become apparent COVID isn't a big risk for someone like him. Hell, there's been loads of data coming out of the UK that show RSV is the bigger risk than COVID for his age group, and my hospital seemed to deal with a much bigger RSV surge in younger kids than COVID. Of course, I'd rather he didn't catch it, but I felt that way about RSV, too, and he caught that virus. Parainfluenzas as well are freaky. Croup was the weirdest illness he's caught so far, but RSV hit him the hardest. 

He wears his mask well, but my community doesn't mask up nearly as well as they used to. About 50% at grocery stores, and much less else where in the community, so I know if I take him out places he's doing his part to protect others, but he isn't getting the same favor in return. Still, it's important to me and my wife we have him see his nieces and nephews in a normal setting (we don't make them wear masks) and get him out into the world a bit.

[TVScout]

Free:

CDC finds immunity from vaccines is more consistent than from infection, but both last at least six months.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has weighed in for the first time in a detailed science report released with little fanfare Friday evening. Reviewing scores of research studies and its own unpublished data, the agency found that both infection-induced and vaccine-induced immunity are durable for at least six months — but that vaccines are more consistent in their protection and offer a huge boost in antibodies for people previously infected.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/11/01/what-works-better-vaccines-or-natural-immunity/