11 votes

Weekly coronavirus-related chat, questions, and minor updates - week of July 18

This thread is posted weekly, and is intended as a place for more-casual discussion of the coronavirus and questions/updates that may not warrant their own dedicated topics. Tell us about what the situation is like where you live!

6 comments

  1. [3]
    cmccabe
    Link
    Biden got the bug. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62256544

    Biden got the bug.
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62256544

    The 79-year-old, who is fully-vaccinated and has twice received booster jabs, is experiencing "very mild symptoms" and will continue to carry out all his duties, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

    The president is taking the antiviral medicine Paxlovid, her statement added.

    6 votes
    1. [2]
      eladnarra
      Link Parent
      I know they're trying to avoid panicking people, and maybe he really is feeling up to working, but it kinda sucks that's the example he's setting. We don't know all the factors that make people...

      I know they're trying to avoid panicking people, and maybe he really is feeling up to working, but it kinda sucks that's the example he's setting. We don't know all the factors that make people more likely to get long covid, but one of them is possibly doing things too soon and not giving oneself enough time to recover.

      7 votes
      1. cmccabe
        Link Parent
        I've actually been wondering if his party might start looking for an excuse for him to gracefully bow out of the next presidential election. This would have been one of those occasions, but so far...

        I've actually been wondering if his party might start looking for an excuse for him to gracefully bow out of the next presidential election. This would have been one of those occasions, but so far it doesn't look like they're using it.

        3 votes
  2. skybrian
    Link
    Japan's daily COVID cases top 150,000, new record high Japan is at about 70 per 100k based on OurWorldInData.

    Japan's daily COVID cases top 150,000, new record high

    Infection cases in the country had been kept relatively low until mid-June but started to shoot up recently as BA.5 rampaged through the country.

    Japan is at about 70 per 100k based on OurWorldInData.

    4 votes
  3. skybrian
    Link
    Novavax is here! Just not the silver bullet we need (Your Local Epidemiologist) [...]

    Novavax is here! Just not the silver bullet we need (Your Local Epidemiologist)

    Yesterday, ACIP—CDC’s external scientific advisory board—unanimously voted to authorize the Novavax vaccine (called NVX-CoV2373) in the U.S. This was big news for the small, underdog Maryland company who had a long road to authorization.

    [...]

    Novavax is a great vaccine for the unvaccinated, and it will save millions of lives. It can eventually be used as a booster, but the effect will not be as impactful as I would have hoped. For now, I don’t recommend using Novavax off-label as a booster or, worse, waiting for a booster because Novavax is coming.

    It’s abundantly clear that first generation vaccines, like Novavax, are not the silver bullet we need to close out this pandemic. We desperately need the funding and the drive for second generation vaccines, like pan-coronavirus vaccines (variant proof) or nasal vaccines (future post to come), to finally get ahead of this virus.

    4 votes
  4. eladnarra
    Link
    Welp, I got a second booster today. Feeling a bit odd and achy, but nothing too bad so far. It was really easy; just chose "yes" on the online form when it asked if I was immunocompromised, and no...

    Welp, I got a second booster today. Feeling a bit odd and achy, but nothing too bad so far.

    It was really easy; just chose "yes" on the online form when it asked if I was immunocompromised, and no one asked any questions when I went to get it done.

    I thought I'd feel guilty for lying, but I dont. The vaccines are expiring and going to waste as the CDC leaves high risk folks to fend for ourselves. If you say it's up to me to protect myself, don't blame me when I take the necessary steps, I guess.

    3 votes