Coronavirus: What questions do you have?

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Chuck,
If you remember, I had Covid last August. I'm trying to get the vaccine, but am having trouble getting an appointment for the Moderna or Pfizer ones. I think I can get the J&J single shot, seems to be plenty of those available. Should I wait for the dual dose, or get the J&J?

There is a little better coverage by the two-shot regimes. Personally, I would get the first shot you can acquire.
 
There is a little better coverage by the two-shot regimes. Personally, I would get the first shot you can acquire.

Well, then I booked a J&J shot for tax day... Gotta skip out of work early.
Next stupid question...
I'm also due to take my Cosentyx shots the same day. Should be OK? Or wait a day?
 
Off the manufacturer's website:

There's no evidence to show that COSENTYX should be delayed or stopped in people receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the COSENTYX Prescribing Information (PI), people treated with COSENTYX should not receive live vaccines; however, they may receive non-live vaccinations.

Also in the patient information:
https://www.cosentyx.com/covid19?ut...2IsW6kyuxIxM3OK3KOhoC7_IQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
The currently available vaccines on the market, by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, are non-live vaccines. As of March 2021, there are no live COVID-19 vaccines being developed.


https://www.fda.gov/media/146304/download
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/health/johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine.html
The Jansen vaccine has an attenuated virus that cannot replicate or infect humans. The manufacturer lists it as one that is allowed with this medication.
 
The vaccine should still work.
Yes, wife and I have had both doses now. We are still not going to do certain activities, eating in restaurants etc., basically nothing indoors. Need to see how things play out. Our 10 year old is obviously not vaccinated, waiting to see what might get approved for him.
 
I want to thank everyone for asking questions. The experts, including myself, got some of the things with covid wrong but you all have helped me research answers and prepare responses to question before I was in front of a Senator, Representative, General Officer, patients, or my command. It has been fun. I think we are nearing the end. Oh, please let this be the end, of COVID that is!
 
I want to thank everyone for asking questions. The experts, including myself, got some of the things with covid wrong but you all have helped me research answers and prepare responses to question before I was in front of a Senator, Representative, General Officer, patients, or my command. It has been fun. I think we are nearing the end. Oh, please let this be the end, of COVID that is!

We thank you for the answers and time you spend educating us.

Here‘s another question for you......I’m thinking I’ll hold out for the JJ single dose, since I had the virus. I’ve read some material(maybe even from this thread) stating people that have had it probably only need a single shot, anyway......any guidance you can provide on that, and if it is a sound plan?
 
Chuck, I appreciate your answers and some of the other questions as well. I brought them up in discussion with our medical director and some of the intensivists who give us orders and oversight. It has all been helpful.

I think we are nearing the end. Oh, please let this be the end, of COVID that is!

I hope we are near the end as well. Our Covid admissions are much lower. When we go to other hospitals and talk to our counterparts as they come and go, things feel like they are settling back into our "normal" cases.
 
I’m thinking I’ll hold out for the JJ single dose, since I had the virus. I’ve read some material(maybe even from this thread) stating people that have had it probably only need a single shot, anyway......any guidance you can provide on that, and if it is a sound plan?

That’s the situation I’m in, mostly because I couldn’t find any dual dose appointments available. But the J&J was. So, that’s what I’m gonna get.
 
I want to thank everyone for asking questions.
We are thankful that you, and the other health care providers present, are 'in the business' and gave up time to be here to take, research, and answer, those questions.
 
We are thankful that you, and the other health care providers present, are 'in the business' and gave up time to be here to take, research, and answer, those questions.

I like many medical experts have been blinded by the move to socialized and insurance-run medicine for years. I went into medicine to help people. I would have not remained in the Army if I wanted to make money. I am paid well but I could make at least 100-200K more in the civilian sector. This is not a political statement but a fact.

For me, this illness has restored my faith in humankind and medicine. I have seen nurses and doctors hold the hands of dying patients who could not have their families in the room. I myself have stayed longer at work and done some of the duties of my subordinates because I felt it was the right thing to do. I forgot to do a task one day because I was working 18-hour shifts for 10 days without s day off. A colleague completed the administrative task before I could even ask for help.

Not all is bad in the world, you just have took somewhere else than CNN, MSNBC, or FOX.
 
Thanks Chuck. It's been nice having an insider we can ask questions.

I have friends in Ohio and Florida who received vaccinations at sites run by our military. They were very impressed with how well it was all run. Very efficient and the service members administering the shots had a great bedside (car side?) manner.
 
I have friends in Ohio and Florida who received vaccinations at sites run by our military. They were very impressed with how well it was all run. Very efficient and the service members administering the shots had a great bedside (car side?) manner.

This was my experience too. My first shot was administered by folks from the Army 1st Infantry Division. Also, saw some Coast Guard people who looked like they were running the supply restocking of the 18 lane x 3 deep two-man vaccination teams. They were cycling in a whole new set of 54 cars every 2-3 minutes. It was truly very impressive. When I went for my second shot many of the lanes (including mine) were staffed by Kroger, and while it was still impressive in it's efficiency, it was decidedly slower than the lanes still run by the Army.
 
:)
Not all is bad in the world, you just have took somewhere else than CNN, MSNBC, or FOX.
🤔 Hmm, ya know, in an odd sort of way it may be to my benefit to have autism and a couple other neurological things which make it so watching TV is a thing which for me about a decade ago went from limited to not at all.

And now this looks like an opportunity to quote a bit from the most insightful editorial about the TV news business that I have ever heard,
by someone named Don Henley in or about 1982,

I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something-something I can use
People love it when you lose,
They love dirty laundry

Well, I coulda been an actor, but I wound up here
I just have to look good, I don't have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear
Give us dirty laundry

Kick 'em when they're up
Kick 'em when they're down
...
Kick 'em when they're up
Kick 'em all around

We got the bubble-headed-bleach-blond
Who comes on at five
She can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die
Give us dirty laundry

Can we film the operation?
Is the head dead yet?
You know, the boys in the newsroom got a running bet
Get the widow on the set!
We need dirty laundry

You don't really need to find out what's going on
You don't really want to know just how far it's gone
Just leave well enough alone
Eat your dirty laundry

Kick 'em when they're up
...
Kick 'em when they're down

Dirty little secrets
Dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers in everybody's pie
We love to cut you down to size
We love dirty laundry

We can do "The Innuendo"
We can dance and sing
When it's said and done we haven't told you a thing
We all know that Kraft is king
Give us dirty laundry!

Kick 'em when they're up
Kick 'em when they're down
...
 
A famous quote by Robert Heinlein:

“Most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five billion strangers.”

I love that quote!
 
... in the troubles and sins of five billion strangers.”
Hmm, 🤔 💡 I wonder if a good seller at the newsstand at the intergalactic flight boarding lounge could be had in a WordSearch or Crossword book titled "Five billion strange sins"?
 
Hmm, 🤔 💡 I wonder if a good seller at the newsstand at the intergalactic flight boarding lounge could be had in a WordSearch or Crossword book titled "Five billion strange sins"?

Might sell some copies.
 
Is there any late news on mixing 2 different covid vaccines? My wife is in Slovakia but is scheduled to return here to Florida in June. She just became eligible for the Astra Zeneca vaccine, but the second shot would not be scheduled until after here return. Should she get the first AZ shot now, and then get a different vaccine after she gets back here?

I saw these articles that suggest mixing vaccines is OK:
https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20210408/should-covid19-vaccines-be-mixedhttps://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/09/can-you-mix-and-match-covid-vaccines-heres-what-we-know-so-far.html
 
We really don’t know when the end of the season occur. Some coronaviruses are seasonal and others are not. It depends on their UV Susceptibility. We have wound UV exposure devices to China to cleanse we’re sanitize rooms, they appear effective. This is promising, but we won’t know until the season changes.
Seasonality is also behavioral--in the winter we tend to spend more time indoors and in closer proximity in the Northern Hemisphere, which increases likelihood of aerosol/fomite transmission of viruses. Brazil, in the Southern Hemisphere, is experiencing another thrashing; their influenza season is also inverse to ours in terms of incidence vs season. Relative humidity changes might provide a better environment for viral survival in different seasons. Vitamin D deficiency due to reduces sunlight exposure is thought to play a potential role in increasing susceptibility to numerous pathogens....

As with influenza, colds (many types of viruses, including coronaviruses) and Sars-CoV-2, seasonal cyclicity is probably multifactorial. Covid hasn't been around long enough to pin it down precisely, and its closely-related predecessor, Sars-1, didn't spread far enough to provide enough data for useful analysis.

Not incidentally, we've had very low influenza reports for 2020, but last year was also a bell-ringer in terms of it being the year-to-date with the maximal number of flu vaccines ever administered in the US.

Also not incidental is the fact that the CDC-recommended indoor 6-foot distancing was decided as a compromise: Several valid studies showed that 12-15 foot distancing (indoors) is multiple times more effective than the 6-foot "guidelines", but weren't announced because they simply wouldn't have been accepted by the public. So they moved the goalposts--regression to the mean. With vaccines out now, they're reconsidering to drop to this even to 3 feet, which is absurd (but great for schools/restaurants opening). This is because people have pandemic apathy and already aren't (haven't been) following guidelines, and wouldn't now. This is understandable given the conflicting information that's been provided from the start, and even now.

The USA is not, unfortunately, a science-focused nation. Combined with the contradicting information we've received from those in charge of the CDC and NIH, and the political pressures behind some of those proclamations, I, as an ardent "Vaxxer" with a PhD from a decent US med school and decades of hands-on medical research, can fully understand peoples' "Anti-Vax" skepticism. And it disgusts me that it's become a political tool.

If you've already had Covid or are fully vaccinated, you probably are able to be an asymptomatic carrier/spreader. Akin to a person with herpes-2 who is a "latent shedder", that can transmit disease even if they haven't had an overt outbreak in years. Or the common cold carrier who only has sniffles for a day or two but then it "goes away" instead of having 10 days of misery. You might be less infectious, you might be less ill, but you're still a (hobbled) virus factory (and spreader), even if you're not blowing green snots on your pals... Meaning, even if you're vaccinated/recovered/protected (for now), still please practice safe hygiene in your interactions with others. It's just polite. And might save a life.
 
@SharkWhisperer I hear your frustrations on the distancing... My office decided the *exactly* 6' between desks justified not requiring masks inside if seated, governor's orders be damned 😕
Anyone else notice a strange disconnect people have where they feel OK taking their mask off because they see a lot of surface cleaner being used? This has driven me mad the past year with both my parents so vulnerable and so desperate to leave the house... Yeah, mom, they used lysol wipes, but you're not breathing the table!
Also, @cwbullet ... Apologies if you've answered this, but 118 pages is a lot to get through before clocking in on Sunday morning... any insight on why someone might have an extremely rough reaction to a vaccine and if that in any way correlates to likelihood/extent of severity of infection? I'm asking because I'm curious after being laid up for 2.5 days on my first dose and much worse off and not fully normal (still too achey etc to feel like myself) until nearly 5 days after my second pfizer shot. I'm worried some people think I'm bsing at work but... it was bad, man! I haven't felt that sick since I had mono in high school!
 
@SharkWhisperer I hear your frustrations on the distancing... My office decided the *exactly* 6' between desks justified not requiring masks inside if seated, governor's orders be damned 😕
Anyone else notice a strange disconnect people have where they feel OK taking their mask off because they see a lot of surface cleaner being used? This has driven me mad the past year with both my parents so vulnerable and so desperate to leave the house... Yeah, mom, they used lysol wipes, but you're not breathing the table!
Also, @cwbullet ... Apologies if you've answered this, but 118 pages is a lot to get through before clocking in on Sunday morning... any insight on why someone might have an extremely rough reaction to a vaccine and if that in any way correlates to likelihood/extent of severity of infection? I'm asking because I'm curious after being laid up for 2.5 days on my first dose and much worse off and not fully normal (still too achey etc to feel like myself) until nearly 5 days after my second pfizer shot. I'm worried some people think I'm bsing at work but... it was bad, man! I haven't felt that sick since I had mono in high school!
To my knowledge, and i have subscriptions to both the New Engl J Med and the J American Med Association (JAMA), there remains very limited information on how Covid can or cannot spread (to cause disease) through hands-on contact with infected surfaces, versus the well-established aerosol/inhalation delivery. Yes, we know it can live on some surfaces for many days, and only hours on copper surfaces, for example. But to my awareness, there has not been a single documented case of fomite infection. Fomites are just droplets that hit surfaces. To infect, you'd touch them and then touch an open orifice such as rubbing an eye or picking a nose... Inhaling aerosols is just a way much more efficient way of getting it into your body. It is possible, for sure. But I believe time will tell us that touch is an unlikely means of infection. Meaning carry-out food packaging shouldn't be treated cavalierly, but is not to be "feared". I'd be much more concerned about the "exhaust cone" of an individual walking in front of me--I'm a pilot, too, and it resembles the wingtip vortex that forms and expands as a plane moves slowly down the onramp. I instinctively hold my breath when walking through them.

I'd suggest getting the Pfizer/Moderna series, and just being aware of sharing our "exhaust" with others.
 
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@SharkWhisperer I hear your frustrations on the distancing... My office decided the *exactly* 6' between desks justified not requiring masks inside if seated, governor's orders be damned 😕
Anyone else notice a strange disconnect people have where they feel OK taking their mask off because they see a lot of surface cleaner being used? This has driven me mad the past year with both my parents so vulnerable and so desperate to leave the house... Yeah, mom, they used lysol wipes, but you're not breathing the table!
Also, @cwbullet ... Apologies if you've answered this, but 118 pages is a lot to get through before clocking in on Sunday morning... any insight on why someone might have an extremely rough reaction to a vaccine and if that in any way correlates to likelihood/extent of severity of infection? I'm asking because I'm curious after being laid up for 2.5 days on my first dose and much worse off and not fully normal (still too achey etc to feel like myself) until nearly 5 days after my second pfizer shot. I'm worried some people think I'm bsing at work but... it was bad, man! I haven't felt that sick since I had mono in high school!

What we know about acquired infections:
  1. COVID is passed through surfaces and aerosol. Data is limited but I do not think it is worth arguing...No. The spike protein is sticky and sticks to everything so it is easy to acquire it from surfaces. You should clean all common area surfaces at work. I just do not let people in my office. Aerosol vs surface is a conflicted argument. I would just protect yourself against the virus by both mechanisms. Lysol wipes work. Masks work. Social distancing works (more is better). That is the end of the story. Are they 100%...No.
  2. "If you're vaccinated/recovered/protected (for now), still please practice safe hygiene in your interactions with others. It's just polite. And might save a life." This I agree with 100%. Masking, hygiene, and social distancing is nto just aboot you. It is what you do to protect orthers. We need to be more conscious of others and do our part. I am very much about the fact that we have a social obligation to help and protect others from our own illnesses.
  3. Surfaces contact infections unlikely? I not not sure I would use that working. It depends on how cavalier you are. If you get allergies and mess with nose and eyes a lot and do nto sanitize your hands often, I think it is more likely this might cause infections.
 
I want to thank everyone for asking questions. The experts, including myself, got some of the things with covid wrong but you all have helped me research answers and prepare responses to question before I was in front of a Senator, Representative, General Officer, patients, or my command. It has been fun. I think we are nearing the end. Oh, please let this be the end, of COVID that is!
Thank you!

still wondering, are we seeing in the US reinfections of individuals with documented PREVIOUS Covid infections who have NOT been vaccinated now that the newer strains are circulating here? I.e., has vaccination now become the only way to get to herd immunity?
 
Thank you!

still wondering, are we seeing in the US reinfections of individuals with documented PREVIOUS Covid infections who have NOT been vaccinated now that the newer strains are circulating here? I.e., has vaccination now become the only way to get to herd immunity?

I appreciate it. I am very happy to be nearing the end of COVID. We are launching this weekend, It is nice to be able to have a social event. It is hard to not shake hands and wear masks on field. I was raised to always give a firm handshake. I have not done it in over a year. I don’t know that I will ever do ti again.

I am seeing a small number of reinfections and small amount of positive tests post vaccination. I have not seen a single admission or death from Covid after vaccination or prior infection. The vaccination is not the only way to get herd immunity, but vaccination is suspected to be more long lived. Time will tell.

Currently, we know that Moderna and Pfizer will deliver at least 6 months of immunity but it is expected to be 12-18 months Or longer. Prior infection is at least 90 days but may be longer. This is based on antibody research and surveillance testing that is yet to be released.
 
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