Covid-19 discussion

5858

Here’s a video on how to don a reused N95 mask:

I also use the technique of pressing my chin to the inside of the mask while lifting the straps over my head. It’s good to sanitize your hands before & after touching the mask, especially after doffing.

Here’s a popular donning & doffing video. I especially like the fit check part:

We do have annual fit checks where they spray a sweet-tasting solution at us under a hood. But medium size masks fit most average faces pretty well. After you’ve worn N95s for a while, you get a sense if there are significant leaks. Molding the mask around your nose, adjusting the straps optimally around your head, and the fit checks are important, though.

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5859

That’s super helpful, thanks!
The instructions on my KN95s have similar fit check instructions - except, they have ear loops and not headbands so it’s not very easy to adjust if air leaks out the sides. The ones I got seem to fit me pretty well though, air wasn’t leaking out the sides when I tried one on. I did have to mess with the nosepiece some.

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5860

I have a small n95 and sometimes my glasses still fog if I let out a lot of air at once. So yeah, it’s really tricky for some of us. My sister is a medical provider and uses a duck bill mask.

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5861

For those (like me, lol) who have been worried about what happens if you can’t get your second dose scheduled, new medscape article today:

(Sorry I can’t just link to these, you need a login)

Hidden for length

CDC: Gap Between Vaccine Doses Could Be 6 Weeks

Ralph Ellis

January 22, 2021

The CDC has updated its guidance on how long people can wait between the first and second doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

If the second dose can’t be scheduled in the recommended timeframe — 21 days after the first dose for Pfizer and 28 days for Moderna — people can wait up to 6 weeks, the CDC said in an update published Thursday.

“The second dose should be administered as close to the recommended interval as possible,” the CDC said. “However, if it is not feasible to adhere to the recommended interval, the second dose of Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines may be scheduled for administration up to 6 weeks (42 days) after the first dose.”

There’s limited information about how well the vaccines work outside that timeframe, the CDC said. If the second dose is given after 6 weeks, there’s no need to restart the series.

CNN said the new CDC guidance "appears to clarify earlier language that said ‘there is no maximum interval between the first and second doses for either vaccine.’ "

The guidance is significant because the CDC had advised states not to hold back vaccines for second shots so that a maximum number of people can get the first dose. States are adding vaccination sites as they complain about vaccine shortages.

Anthony Fauci, MD, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the leading voice on the coronavirus in the United States, told CNN that people would be “taking a chance” if they follow the new CDC guidance.

“You’re taking a chance. The data from the clinical trials showed that in the Moderna trial, you should get the boost 28 days after the prime. That’s what I got; I got it exactly 28 days later. When you’re dealing with Pfizer, it’s 21; that’s where the data show is the optimal effect,” he said.

He added that delaying the second dose might not be “a big deal.”

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the only ones being given in the United States at this time. Both use two shots of messenger RNA (mRNA) to create an immune response against the coronavirus. People should get both doses of the same vaccine, the CDC says.

Other COVID vaccines in clinical trials, such as the one being developed by Johnson & Johnson, require only one shot, which would provide a logistical advantage over the two-shot vaccines.

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5862

There are size small duck-bill N95 masks on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/FLUIDSHIELD-Particulate-Respirator-Resistant-Protection/dp/B01EI9A3DW/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=halyard+small+n95+mask&qid=1611431276&sr=8-3

The negative reviews are for how small they are & not suitable for even a 12yo, ha. These are usually the ones left when the regular ones run out at work.

I ordered these child-size KN95 masks for my kid during a period yesterday they were available:

I think they restock frequently.

My kid goes to in-person school every day; my DH works in-person at a public-facing job and is not currently not eligible for a vaccine. So other than limiting their exposure otherwise (to protect others as much as themselves), masks are the only thing I feel we have control over. It’s impractical for DH to wear a mask with straps around the head since he is taking on & off his mask all day, so I tried to find him the best-fitting KN95 I could.

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5863

Thoughts on risk? Our neighbors (married couple) are both nurses and will both shortly be fully vaccinated. I will be as well. My husband won’t anytime soon probably? Hard to tell what group he’s in, his job was considered essential during all the shut downs, but anyway, no clue there.

Question is- our daughter is a little over a year. They have two kids, 1.5 and 3. No day care for any of the kids. Our daughter is getting to the age where she really wants to interact with other kids- cries and reaches when we walk by the park and kids are playing, etc. What’s the level of risk like of letting all the kids play together? (My daughter is still breastfeeding so may get some immunity, neighbors kids are not).

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5864

Seems reasonable to me as long as they are open about who they choose to expose their kids to within two weeks if your play dates so you can assess risk and whether you are comfy. Honestly with your husband’s situation you are probably a greater risk to them in that sense, yeah?

You are far more knowledgable on pretty much all medical things than I, but my understaning is the immunity for breastfed babies would only maybe be for if they were eating the virus.

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5865

Actually it’s really cool, immune factors don’t just persist in the gut! White blood cells are thought to survive and enter into circulation. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5508878/
Although it’s not clear if this stops in a more mature/older babies gut, but given some of the co factors in breastmilk it’s possible the translocation keeps going.

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The transfer of immune factors from the mother to the infant starts in utero and continues postnatally through breastfeeding [9]. Evidence from animal studies suggest that breast milk leukocytes survive passage through the infant’s digestive tract, and then translocate from the gastrointestinal tract to the blood and distant sites, including the lymph nodes, spleen and liver [10, 11]. However, there are numerous gaps in the knowledge of the development of the immune system and digestive tract in infants. It is known that maternal leukocytes from breast milk provide active immunity to the infant by fighting pathogens directly via phagocytosis, producing bioactive components, assisting in the development of the newborn immune system, or modifying the microenvironment of the infant digestive tract [12]. There are many possibilities for passage through the infant’s digestive tract and translocation from the gastrointestinal tract to the blood (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues). Breast milk leukocytes have been shown to be activated, motile and interactive, and they can be transferred via the systemic circulation into distant tissues [13]. It has been postulated that miRNAs, which are abundant in breast milk, also participate in leukocyte survival in the infant’s gastrointestinal tract, potentially conferring immunoprotective and developmental functions [14].

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5866

Most places say bubbles are ok. Are they interacting with YOU or with you and others?

Personally, I’d be ok with it, especially if you can be outside. But my kids also go to daycare, so we’ve accepted that risk.

Our pediatrician really felt the risk to children was low. Maybe talk to yours?

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5867

We’re at a point in this where doracat is hoarding sparkle poufs…are any other pets showing concern? What does she know? Should I start gathering my shiny things?

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5868

Girl cat yelled at us and put us in trouble when we got too far away from the house on our walk today (we started down the north slope on the driveway, and that was Not Okay). Then she herded us back into the house with her tail all poofed out and swishing. So I’m thinking the cats know something we don’t’

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5869

If my cat knows anything, she doesn’t care. Lol. She’s sleeping on me at the moment.

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5870

My cat was friendly this morning. Clearly something is up.

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5871

Mine is acting old normal, not new normal. Maybe the darkness is ending

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5872

I hope so.

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5873

Lil Bug has been a lot less demanding in the past 18 hours. I agree, something’s up.

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5874

Business as usual here - 6 a.m. swatty wakeup from Girl Kitty, Boy Kitty being meowy and begging for far more food than he should eat. Only thing out of the ordinary is that Girl Kitty shut herself in the kitchen cabinet, which she hasn’t done in probably a year.

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5875

Yes! The final cat sign is here

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5876

I mean, she would’ve done it sooner if we were less vigilant about locking the childproof cabinet locks (which I clearly forgot to do today after emptying the dishwasher).

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5877

My cats let me sleep through. I think we’re getting to “new normal”.

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