#Covid-19 Booster Shots

[subdee]

In a preliminary study, it looks like taking metformin (a diabetes drug) while you have COVID could decrease your risk of developing long COVID - maybe by half!

The blog post also has information about the current dominant COVID variant (it is endemic) and current numbers in the US (not good), as well as the current odds that if you get COVID, you will develop long COVID (shockingly high, in the double digits for the unvaccinated but still high - 7%! - for the vaccinated).

Anyway. Bad news but also some good news. The metformin mitigation is also even MORE effective among the unvaccinated people who are at most risk for getting long COVID so I hope the fact that this IS a cheap generic (and safe!!!) will convince them that this is not a Big Pharma plot and they should get this treatment, that's assuming the trial results hold up and they ID as having COVID in time.

[getoutofthisplace]

Dear Gus & Magnus,

Mom and Gus got a COVID booster shot today. I need one too -- I'm way overdue. It's weird that we had this global pandemic where over a million people died in the United States, and now COVID just feels like another catastrophic thing happening in the background of our lives that barely registers a blip on our daily radar. Like another war on the other side of another ocean.

Dad.

Little Rock, Arkansas. 8.3.2023 - 2.35pm.

[humandisastersquad]

From February 20, people 18 and over who have not had a COVID-19 vaccine or positive case in the last six months are eligible for another shot

The announcement also opens fourth doses up to Australians aged 18-29

LETS GOOOO

[didanawisgi]

I really didn’t want to do a COVID post today, but duty calls, as I stumbled upon a new study from Singapore released a few weeks ago. Not so long ago, I explained that evidence now shows excessive Spike protein exposure from a combination of vaccines and breakthrough infections leads to immune tolerance: The immune system begins to send anti-inflammatory IgG4 antibodies after the Spike protein, that basically serve as a tag that tells your immune system not to worry about the protein. For every thousand teams that shoots up a bunch of people and proudly announces “boosters lead to superior antibody levels versus natural infections!”, there’s one team where someone has two braincells to rub together and decides to take a good look at WHAT SORT OF ANTIBODIES the body is actually deploying. And whenever they bother to do that and I read the results, I feel like starting an unhealthy drinking habit...

Rintrah, New evidence of persistent Spike protein tolerance from breakthrough infections

[inktog]

I have definitely seen this ask meme in the wild before before but send me a 🔥 emoji and a topic of your choice if you want to hear my flaming hot controversial take(s) about said topic. Also I just woke up disoriented from a nap after getting my second booster so I'm as close to drunk as I will normally get

[dragon-robot]

Apparently, it's corporate Disability Awareness Month!

Great!

Now that you're aware of us, can we have some basic fucking covid protections back?

[suchananewsblog]

Have Long COVID? Newest Booster Vaccines May Help You

Have Long COVID? Newest Booster Vaccines May Help You

SOURCES: Jackie Dishner, Phoenix. Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, director, Clinical Epidemiology Center, Washington University, St. Louis; chief of Research and Development Service, Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System. Nature Medicine: “Acute and postacute sequelae related to SARS-CoV-2 reinfection.” The Lancet eClinical Medicine: “Impact of COVID-19 vaccination on the chance of growing long-COVID…

[knitmeapony]

If you live in the US your household can order more free covid tests. Starting in late september, 2024, you will be able to order more tests at https://covidtests.gov . No shipping handling or any other charges, just feeling your address and have four nasal swab tests sent to your home for free.

There is also a new covid booster coming out after labor day. If you are doing any kind of significant traveling, or you will be spending a lot of time around big groups of people like at college or school, please plan on getting this year's flu shot as well as your covid booster. We had a winter level surge over the summer, I am very worried that we are going to have an even more significant surge this fall and winter.

[lanomin]

wooo I got my covid booster 🎉🎉! Got novavax again, the results coming out from journals are really encouraging and I really liked not being super sick for the next day. Please be smart and sexy and get boosted and mask up yall, we're all in this together

[ricisidro]

Will the 2024 COVID boosters protect against #SARSCoV2 #FLiRT variants?

#KP3 variant has taken over #JN1 in the US as per the new CDC #COVID19 data which is a mismatch to the planned JN.1 new booster vaccine by Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax by September.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions

[rjmbaboonbooks]

Daily Comic Journal: April 7, 2022: "Unmasked ... For Now?"

I suppose I should count myself lucky. It’s been about two years since COVID-19 really hit this country and I’ve gotten this far without catching the virus. It could be because I’ve spent so much time at home (first when I was working from home and then when I was laid off so I had no where to go) and when I do go anywhere, like to the movies yesterday, I go in the afternoon during the week when…

[acorncarechesapeake]

Get Covid Vaccine in Chesapeake VA at Acorn Care

If you require covid vaccine in Chesapeake VA then Acorn Care is your go-to healthcare destination. Our reliable COVID-19 testing and vaccination services are designed to keep you safe and healthy. Schedule an appointment or walk in today to receive the necessary care you need during this challenging time.

[dhart4214]

FOUR YEARS OF COVID: A Few Brief Reflections

Thank the Good Lord for these… It’s hard to believe that it will be four years ago tomorrow (as of this writing), TO THE DAY, That the World Health Organization, or WHO, declared a worldwide pandemic in reaction to the outbreak of COVID-19, shutting down everything and keeping everyone in lock down for months. Over seven million people dead worldwide because of this disease, including over…

[dduane]

"University of Houston researchers make nasal vaccine that prevents COVID from spreading"

For reasons I don't understand, I'm having trouble linking directly to this Houston Chronicle post. But here's most of the text. (The URL's at the bottom if you want to try it.)

A team of researchers from the University of Houston have developed a new vaccine to treat and prevent the spread of flu and multiple coronavirus strains. Through two nasal sprays — an immune activating therapeutic treatment and a new vaccine — the team of UH researchers have not only broken ground on vaccinating against SARS-CoV-2 and the flu virus, but also on creating a universal coronavirus vaccine. Dr. Navin Varadarajan, who leads the lab behind the nasal sprays, said the new vaccine will be a game-changer to the “major obstacle” of current vaccines, which can prevent people from serious illness, but not stop them from spreading the disease to others.  “They can (current vaccines) keep you out of the hospital, but it doesn’t stop you from spreading it to vulnerable people,” Varadarajan said. On top of providing a way to stop the spread of COVID to those most at risk — the elderly and immunocompromised — the new nasal vaccine is a crucial step forward in the goal of fighting viral evolution.  It’s natural for viruses to change and evolve — and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is no exception. As viruses spread farther and faster, they can better adapt to their environment. Successful variants beat out weaker ones, which can lead to easier transmission or worsened disease.  While many viral variants have minimal impact, over time viruses become stronger against existing vaccines. SARS-CoV-2 resides in the nose, and since existing vaccines are intramuscular, meaning they are administered through a shot in the arm, the virus is not actually eliminated from the body. NanoSTING-SN, on the other hand, hits “the last mile” of the nose, which prevents the disease from spreading, Varadarajan said.  It’s also a pan-coronavirus nasal vaccine, meaning it works against the infection and disease of all viruses in the coronavirus family.  In animals, the nasal vaccine was 100% effective in stopping transmission of the Omnicron variants of concern to unvaccinated hosts. Despite the wide-use of Pfizer and Moderna, viral evolution of the disease forces scientists to keep updating existing vaccines. To Varadarajan, the nasal vaccine can also stop the cyclical need to create more COVID boosters — a method he not only says doesn’t get to the heart of the problem, but also anticipates the general public will be less willing to sign on board for. 

The article URL:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/university-of-houston-covid-nasal-vaccine-19628489.php

[rjptalk]

NOT DONE YET

NOT DONE YET, #Covid #pandemic #CrowdedPlaces

No Vacation for COVID, by Rich Paschall Many, or should I say most of us, have come to believe that the Coronavirus pandemic is over. You can see it just about everywhere. Few people wear masks in public, even in crowded stores. A couple months ago I was at the packed United Center in Chicago for the Lionel Ritchie concert. I don’t recall seeing anyone wearing a mask. Prior to being let into the…