Coronavirus

[namazu]

I am anxiously awaiting the outcome of the upcoming FDA meeting re: the 2-dose vaccine for young kids (6 months to <5 years).

Well, so much for that.  They've decided to defer consideration after all.

As the parent of a kid in the under-2 range where the vaccine apparently did effect the desired immune response, it really stinks.

As someone who wants, from both a personal and professional perspective, to be sure that the vaccine is indeed as effective and safe as advertised prior to roll-out, and to minimize the need for additional shots, it seems like a sensible move to wait for results from the 3rd-dose trial (expected in April).  Moderna will (allegedly) have results from their trial in the spring, too.

I'm not sure why the FDA called this meeting suddenly and then backtracked just as suddenly -- or at least that's how it appears.  Omicron was already waning in most areas (with the expectation of further drops) when they called the meeting, if my mental timeline is accurate, but maybe they called it before that?  We (parents of under-5s) have been jerked around a lot here, with premature announcements about the vaccine coming soon, and then not materializing.  I'll believe it when I see it.

[the_geneticist]

Ugh.  I have friends and family members with young children who are waiting to see what is going to happen first:  their kid turns 5 or the vaccines for the under 5 are approved.

[Aster]

One of our local testing sites closed down on Friday. Ever since our region has been flooded with home test kits, the need for public testing centers has taken a steep nosedive. That part is good.

Unfortunately, the number of people still actually getting seriously sick with covid has barely dropped at all.

[Caracal]

One of our local testing sites closed down on Friday. Ever since our region has been flooded with home test kits, the need for public testing centers has taken a steep nosedive. That part is good.

Unfortunately, the number of people still actually getting seriously sick with covid has barely dropped at all.

Do you mean in your local region or in the country as a whole?

[apl68]

Our pastor was able to be at church again yesterday.  He was weak and carrying a bottle of oxygen, but he was there.  He even stepped up to the pulpit and spoke for a couple of minutes before the guest preacher delivered the sermon.  It was an emotional moment for everybody when we saw him back up there.

He hopes to deliver the message next Sunday.  We'll see.  Although he is gradually improving, it will be a long time before he's fully recovered.  It's just as well that he had already planned to step down as pastor this year, and that we're at an advanced stage of the search for a newer and younger minister.  It's a demanding office.

[Aster]

One of our local testing sites closed down on Friday. Ever since our region has been flooded with home test kits, the need for public testing centers has taken a steep nosedive. That part is good.

Unfortunately, the number of people still actually getting seriously sick with covid has barely dropped at all.

Do you mean in your local region or in the country as a whole?

Locally, regionally, and in our state. A national statistic has little value when the averages are non-representative. Even our state averages are pretty unreliable metrics, as my state is really big.

[hmaria1609]

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the indoor mask mandate will be eased:
https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/dc-businesses-wont-need-to-check-customers-for-proof-of-vaccine-starting-tuesday/

In MD, masks won't be required in state government buildings:
https://wtop.com/maryland/2022/02/maryland-to-lift-mask-requirement-for-state-buildings/

Posted on WTOP online 2/14/22

[Parasaurolophus]

So... Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, and BC have decided to lift their COVID restrictions. Which doesn't sound at all like it was influenced in any way, shape, or form by the protesters.

[mamselle]

A friend's sister-in-law in Mississippi just died of non-Covid related issues--spinal meningitis, in fact.

The ERs for several miles around were so full they had to put her off for five days before they could promise a bed.

By the time they'd diagnosed her and could admit her she'd gone into a coma and had been accorded hospice at home instead.

M.

[Hegemony]

Mamselle, oh no, that's horrific.

My university has been on the prudent side in handling the pandemic. They require vaccinations for both students and staff (although rumor says that you can opt out merely by stating a philosophical objection). They have been requiring masks indoors on campus, and holding meetings online.

Next week we have our first in-person meeting — required, with hundreds of faculty present — and the word on the street is that the mask requirement is about to be lifted. Meanwhile transmission rates in our community are still high — they are "low" only in comparison with the stratospheric rates they reached a while back. And our hospital is overwhelmed. I have multiple health vulnerabilities, and boy I am not looking forward to being the only masked person in a room of 100 students to whom I am supposed to give a lecture. Unfortunately several people in key positions of power are of the "It's only a bad cold, you all should stop being wimps" attitude. Last I heard, bad colds did not overwhelm our hospital resources.

[Larimar]

Yipes and sorry to hear it, both Hegemony and Mamselle.

[Stockmann]

How awful, mamselle.

[mamselle]

Yes, the whole area is full of folks who deny the virus and anything one might do against it.

My friend's 90-year-old mom (with heart issues) and 92-year-old dad (who weighs 300#, and has severe diabetes) both live in the same area, and are housebound.

She had a very hard time getting the visiting healthcaregivers to mask and be careful around them last year: she's now at home in Texas, fighting breast CA (mastectomy next week after a fall-winter prep) herself, so she has no control over the situation since her only surviving sibling doesn't see the point.

M.

[Stockmann]

I'm so sorry to hear all that, mamselle.

[Ruralguy]

Everyone's probably jumping the gun by at least a month, and that's only if other waves don't establish themselves. Its astounding how impatient people can be, even if normally reasonable, and even if the impatience leads to more severe illness and heartache.