Coronavirus: What questions do you have?

[afadeev]

I think it is important that we not wait till natural immunity. We need to use a combination of “natural immunity” and vaccination to gain herd immunity.

Especially, if "herd immunity" may never come:

• Moderna CEO says the world will have to live with Covid ‘forever’
• Public health officials and infectious disease experts have said there is a high likelihood that Covid-19 will become an endemic disease, meaning it will be present at all times, though likely at lower levels than it is now.
• “SARS-CoV-2 is not going away,” Bancel said during a panel discussion at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/13/mod...ave-to-live-with-the-coronavirus-forever.html

 

[NateB]

Public health officials and infectious disease experts have said there is a high likelihood that Covid-19 will become an endemic disease, meaning it will be present at all times, though likely at lower levels than it is now.

One thing the doctors I talk to have agreed on is that once the worst of this is over, we will still be dealing with Covid for a very long time. However, they are hopeful we will only have localized breakouts in various places and the stress on the health systems will be much lower.

 

[Flyfalcons]

@Flyfalcons , can you quote a reference on that? I'd like to see it.


Again, emphasizing that I don't think intentionally shooting for Herd Immunity is a good thing, looks like we are almost halfway there (and paying the expected price in deaths and long hauler symptom issues.)

BTW Chuck, I am agreeing with you, VACCINATION is the best way to get there, unfortunately we continue to have too many people that don't take this seriously, don't wear a mask, don't social distance.

Been to two take out food places recently where the cash register staff members were wearing masks underneath their chins. Just unbelievable.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladi...mes-higher-than-reported-scientists-estimate/

 

[cwbullet]

@Flyfalcons , can you quote a reference on that? I'd like to see it.


Again, emphasizing that I don't think intentionally shooting for Herd Immunity is a good thing, looks like we are almost halfway there (and paying the expected price in deaths and long hauler symptom issues.)

BTW Chuck, I am agreeing with you, VACCINATION is the best way to get there, unfortunately we continue to have too many people that don't take this seriously, don't wear a mask, don't social distance.

Been to two take out food places recently where the cash register staff members were wearing masks underneath their chins. Just unbelievable.

You can't fix stupid.

 

[cwbullet]

One thing the doctors I talk to have agreed on is that once the worst of this is over, we will still be dealing with Covid for a very long time. However, they are hopeful we will only have localized breakouts in various places and the stress on the health systems will be much lower.

That is 100% true. If people take the vaccine and we can get to about April or May, I think we will see improvment.

 

[OverTheTop]

Down here we have only a few minor outbreaks of covid. Questions are coming out now, with the release of the vaccines, as to whether not having a vaccine affects employment. It can be about getting tradespeople into your home and asking for proof of vaccination, or perhaps at a workplace where most people are vaccinated and some refuse to. How do you provide a safe workplace/home? This is definitely a can of worms.

 

[NateB]

How do you provide a safe workplace/home?

No need to overthink it. Vaccinate if you can and practice good hygiene. Wash your hands and clean commonly touched surfaces.

 

[kuririn]

How do you provide a safe workplace/home?

There used to be a time when you couldn't work in food service here without getting a TB shot and clearance papers. Don't see why Covid would be any different.

 

[OverTheTop]

No need to overthink it. Vaccinate if you can and practice good hygiene. Wash your hands and clean commonly touched surfaces.

I'm with you on all of that. It is the other Nuff Nuffs that worry me.

 

[BABAR]

Although my suspicion is that (perhaps aside from Primary Responders and Health Care workers, who should know and behave better although they often don’t), that when “regular” people get vaccinated they are going “back to the candy store” and will ditch social distancing and masking and any improved hand washing. Problem is, odds are at least one in 20 will be less than fully protected from SYMPTOMATIC infections and degree of protection against ASYMPTOMATIC infections (possibly transmissible/capable of inducing SYMPTOMATIC infections in the remaining non protected populace) is at this point an unknown.

There are lots of endemic infections still out there, although uncommon in the more affluent countries, such as malaria, yellow fever, and dengue. And multi-drug- resistant TB and Staph aureus are nasty actors making an aggressive comeback worldwide.

 

[Sandy H.]

Please volunteer to get the vaccine. It is the only way to protect ourselves, our patients, and our families from this dreaded virus.

I historically have not gotten the flu shot. I did it 2 times and both times got a 'bad cold' within a week. Since then, I didn't opt for the flu shot, but only got a cold probably 3-4 times over almost a 20 year period. I figured 'meh - its not for me.' and moved on.

Having said that, I am now understanding that my behavior was very self-focused and even though I didn't get sick, I may have still been doing harm. I never would have thought that before 2020.

I will 100%, absolutely get the COVID vaccine when I qualify. I won't necessarily camp out the night before (like trying to get tickets for a good concert), but once I am part of the active group, I'll call to make an appointment and show up to get it taken care of when I get the appointment.

Chuck, your information here has 100% made that a no-brainer decision for me and I hope you appreciate that you not only help people during the day as your main job and also here as a source for information, but you also reach a much larger audience. I pass along what I hear to family, friends and co-workers, so your one voice reaches 10-20 people from me alone. I bet that multiplier is similar for many on the forum.

Thank you and please continue to pass along a rational view so we can pass it along too.

Sandy.

 

[cwbullet]

I historically have not gotten the flu shot. I did it 2 times and both times got a 'bad cold' within a week. Since then, I didn't opt for the flu shot, but only got a cold probably 3-4 times over almost a 20 year period. I figured 'meh - its not for me.' and moved on.

Having said that, I am now understanding that my behavior was very self-focused and even though I didn't get sick, I may have still been doing harm. I never would have thought that before 2020.

I will 100%, absolutely get the COVID vaccine when I qualify. I won't necessarily camp out the night before (like trying to get tickets for a good concert), but once I am part of the active group, I'll call to make an appointment and show up to get it taken care of when I get the appointment.

Chuck, your information here has 100% made that a no-brainer decision for me and I hope you appreciate that you not only help people during the day as your main job and also here as a source for information, but you also reach a much larger audience. I pass along what I hear to family, friends and co-workers, so your one voice reaches 10-20 people from me alone. I bet that multiplier is similar for many on the forum.

Thank you and please continue to pass along a rational view so we can pass it along too.

Sandy.

That is very rational. The Flu vaccine probably is not a causative tie to your bad cold, but is more chronologic. We should get the COVID and FLU vaccines for our loved ones, friends, and collegues. It is not about protect you. Instead, we should do it for others.

It is voluntary and an individual decision. I am a very selfless person. I volunteers to do what i do. I volunteered multiple times in my life to take the riskiest jobs to shield others from doing it. I don't do it for personal glory or awards. Instead, I do it for those that can't. I just could not live with myself if I infected someone else without atleast trying to prevent it. This is why i was immunized, obeyed the isolation, social distance, and wear a mask.

Talk about vaccination with yoru family and make a decision, but atleast consider and think about it.

 

[cwbullet]

Are these mRNA viruses going to mutate my DNA and cause cancer?

I get this question a lot. The short answer is no, but let me explain why.

First, DNA is in your cell's nucleus. It never leaves. The mRNA remains outside the nucleus and never enters it. It can't change your DNA.

What is mRNA? The mRNA is a message or signal that tells your cellular factories to produce a protein. That is all it does and it is quickly destroyed once the product is made. It cannot give you superpowers or permanently change your cells or body. The mRNA sequence in the vaccine is for the spike proteins and it will create a copy of the protein that covers the virus for the purpose of teaching your immune system to attack it and remember it for the future when you eventually catch the virus. It is inevitable that if we live long enough, we will encounter this virus. The vaccine will hopefully prevent it from killing as many people.

I cannot think of a single means for the mRNA to cause cancer. It does not seem plausible to me.

 

[Marc_G]

Another point to make with vaccine sceptics is that COVID-19 has already killed well over 1/1000 of the US population and it's rising rapidly.

If you get COVID-19 you have a very good chance of being quite ill for weeks/months and a chance of dying in the one or two percent range.

The chance of serious harm from the vaccine is measured in a few cases per million at absolute worst based on existing data, probably a lot less than that.

It's a numbers game and the odds are a lot better off you get vaccinated.

 

[Marc_G]

Interesting studies emerging about covid resistance following infection:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/14/health/covid-immunity-antibodies-intl/index.html

 

[jd2cylman]

I get this question a lot. The short answer is no, but let me explain why.

(Excellent answer snipped)

It cannot give you superpowers or permanently change your cells or body.

Well crap! No superpowers?
That’s it, I’m out! (s)

 

[Marc_G]

I've been letting spiders bite me in hopes of going all Spidey, but all I got was an infected finger.

 

[cwbullet]

Interesting studies emerging about covid resistance following infection:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/14/health/covid-immunity-antibodies-intl/index.html

I will still get the vaccine because at least 10 months of immunity from Moderna is still greater than 5 months.

 

[cwbullet]

Well crap! No superpowers?
That’s it, I’m out! (s)

I know. I was hoping to become the Hulk.

 

[Nytrunner]

Well crap! No superpowers?
That’s it, I’m out! (s)

Reminds me of a snip from the Hydrazine song: "Your DNA might mutate, but it won't mean you can flyyyyy....... Monomethyl Hydrazine and Nitrogen tetroxide!"

 

[cwbullet]

Reminds me of a snip from the Hydrazine song: "Your DNA might mutate, but it won't mean you can flyyyyy....... Monomethyl Hydrazine and Nitrogen tetroxide!"

Yup. Hillarious.

 

[cwbullet]

Especially, if "herd immunity" may never come:

• Moderna CEO says the world will have to live with Covid ‘forever’
• Public health officials and infectious disease experts have said there is a high likelihood that Covid-19 will become an endemic disease, meaning it will be present at all times, though likely at lower levels than it is now.
• “SARS-CoV-2 is not going away,” Bancel said during a panel discussion at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/13/mod...ave-to-live-with-the-coronavirus-forever.html

I think this is premature. It might and it might not become endemic. Eitherway, what can you do other than live you life and try to protect yourself and your lovedones.

 

[cwbullet]

One of my sites immunized 600 people today. Just wow. That is a lot f harpooning with a needle.

 

[cwbullet]

Guys, I am going to bed after a very long week. Returning from COVID has been very tiring. I had no idea how much of an effect it would have on my physical stamina. Protect yourself and avoid it. COVID is not a cold virus. It is really dangerous.

 

[boatgeek]

One of my sites immunized 600 people today. Just wow. That is a lot f harpooning with a needle.

Are you giving shots just to people associated with the base, or also to the general public? Either way, do you have a sense of how many people are depending on your clinics to get their shots?

 

[cwbullet]

Are you giving shots just to people associated with the base, or also to the general public? Either way, do you have a sense of how many people are depending on your clinics to get their shots?

I am only allowed to immunize our beneficiaries at this time. That may change. My supported clinics support over 60K but have several other hospitals and clinics that I provide support.

 

[BABAR]

One of my sites immunized 600 people today. Just wow. That is a lot f harpooning with a needle.

Sounds like the way I met most of my flying squadron when I first arrived at Altus AFB prior to Desert Shield deployment. We were giving gamma globulin shots, in the heinie.

“Hi. I’m your new flight surgeon. Pull ‘em down and bend over.”

Then I had to give the chemical warfare antidote lecture on Atropine and 2PAM chloride autoinjectors (talk about starting your job on back to back high points!)

Before the lecture, I did report the winners of the underwear contest. My lecture started right after the Wing Commander (whom I had yet to meet) walked in, we all came to attention until he sat down in the front row directly in front of the podium.

“Third place was Major Markson, for black penguins.”

“Second place was SSGT. Thomas, for red silk,” (we were a co-Ed tanker squadron and she was a boom operator.)

“First place was a three way tie with names didacted for yellow in front and brown in a back.”

The Wing Commander nearly fell out of his chair.

For some reason I was very popular with the Wing and the Wing Commander from that point forward.

 

[cwbullet]

Sounds like the way I met most of my flying squadron when I first arrived at Altus AFB prior to Desert Shield deployment. We were giving gamma globulin shots, in the heinie.

“Hi. I’m your new flight surgeon. Pull ‘em down and bend over.”

Then I had to give the chemical warfare antidote lecture on Atropine and 2PAM chloride autoinjectors (talk about starting your job on back to back high points!)

Before the lecture, I did report the winners of the underwear contest. My lecture started right after the Wing Commander (whom I had yet to meet) walked in, we all came to attention until he sat down in the front row directly in front of the podium.

“Third place was Major Markson, for black penguins.”

“Second place was SSGT. Thomas, for red silk,” (we were a co-Ed tanker squadron and she was a boom operator.)

“First place was a three way tie with names didacted for yellow in front and brown in a back.”

The Wing Commander nearly fell out of his chair.

For some reason I was very popular with the Wing and the Wing Commander from that point forward.

Those were the days. I had to review the readiness of a Division of 17K for an undisclosed desert hotspot a few years ago. They all had to be immunized for smallpox. I got really good at that education speach - "keep it covered and don't touch your pox, don't let buddy touch you pox, don't let your significant other touch your pox, and for god sake please don't get pregnant".

 

[Mushtang]

I've been letting spiders bite me in hopes of going all Spidey, but all I got was an infected finger.

True story - when my now 15 years old son was about 6 years old I saw a HUGE spider outside our house near a wooded area. I went inside and mentioned it to him thinking maybe he'd want to come outside to see it. His eyes lit up huge and he very excitedly asked me, "Is it radioactive?" I nearly laughed myself silly with the mental image of him running to the spider with his hand held out so that he could get bitten and become Spider-Man.

 

[boatgeek]

Sounds like the way I met most of my flying squadron when I first arrived at Altus AFB prior to Desert Shield deployment. We were giving gamma globulin shots, in the heinie.

I have distinct (not fond) memories of the gamma globulin shot from when my parents were in the Foreign Service when I was in high school. It was waaaay better to get the shot from the embassy nurse in country than from a stateside doctor. She warmed the vaccine up a bit so it thinned down from its normal molasses-like consistency.