I got an email that my health department has tons of doses and you can get an immediate appointment. They asked that people share the info so that others can go.
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Well those numbers are a bit better. Thatās good to see.
I wonder what it is when you look at red state/blue state.
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You canāt tell, because a lot of us red states arenāt doing testing anymore.
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Yes, but I might go on a weekday when the crowds will be smaller.
And, as I said before, there are RenFaires everywhere. They are commercial enterprises.
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I am way, way too cheap to buy food or drink at the RenFaire, so that would not figure into my calculations.
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Do most peopleās local renfaires have weekday hours? Huh. Here it is weekends only.
Iām pretty sure that ours has Fridays.
Cut for length. Medscape, moderna 90% effective after 6 months
Moderna Says Vaccine 90% Effective After 6 Months
Editorās note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscapeās Coronavirus Resource Center.
Moderna says its coronavirus vaccine provides strong protection up to 6 months after a second dose.
āUpdated cases show continued strong efficacy, including greater than 90% against cases of COVID-19 and greater than 95% against severe cases of COVID-19, with approximately 6 months median follow-up post dose 2,ā the company said in a statement.
When the FDA granted Moderna emergency use authorization in December, data showed the vaccine was 94% effective.
The pharmaceutical company cited phase III clinical studies conducted through April 9 involving more than 900 cases, including more than 100 severe cases.
Moderna said the results are preliminary and it will share further results throughout the year. The results, though not published in a scientific journal, are consistent with a report in the New England Journal of Medicine which found 33 people who got the Moderna vaccine had a strong antibody response after 6 months, the Moderna statement said.
Earlier this month, Pfizer said its vaccine produced with European partner BioNTech provided strong protection after 6 months.
Pfizer said its vaccine was 91.3% effective against COVID-19 in an analysis of 927 symptomatic people through March 13, as shown by real-world data compiled since the vaccine was given emergency use authorization. The vaccine provided 100% protection against severe disease after 6 months.
This compares to 95% efficacy reported in the interim results announced Nov. 18, 2020.
In its statement, Moderna said the company is running clinical trials on around adolescents 12-17 years old and is enrolling participants 11 years and younger for clinical trials. Dosage will be increased for the younger children if lower doses prove safe, Moderna said.
Itās not clear how the Moderna vaccineās effectiveness will hold up against coronavirus variants, but StĆ©phane Bancel, the Moderna CEO, said the company will address that problem.
āWe are looking forward to having the clinical data from our variant-specific booster candidates, as well as clinical data from the phase II-III study of our COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents,ā Bancel said. āThe new preclinical data on our variant-specific vaccine candidates give us confidence that we can proactively address emerging variants. Moderna will make as many updates to our COVID-19 vaccine as necessary until the pandemic is under control.ā
Sources
Moderna. āModerna Provides Clinical and Supply Updates on COVID-19 Vaccine Program Ahead of 2nd Annual Vaccines Dayā
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Ahhhhhh I just got an appointment for tomorrow at 10:15, on the first day where Iāll be eligible. My bestie called and was like SIGN UP NOW and I am just. YESSSSSSSSSSSS
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Halp! A friend-of-friend who I think might be vaccine hesitant or antivax texted me to ask my thoughts on the vaccine. Iām flattered but also anxious about responding.
Hereās what I want to say (including lots learned from all you smart people here):
- The technology behind mRNA vaccines is 10 yrs in the making
- I tested positive for antibodies due to covid recovery but still chose to get the vaccine, which produces 9-10x more protection
- Something something herd immunity to protect the most vulnerable
- Something about childhood vaccination being far safer than the diseases in general
Is there a single article I could link to that covers all or most of the above? Or any other key points I should include? ETA: She leans sort of āsuburban holistic healerā if that helps tailor your recos.
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I might start by asking what sheās worried about and then tailoring your response to that instead of giving her every reason in the book. Thereās an effect where giving people facts can make them dig into their wrong position even stronger. So lead with empathy not facts (? I have no idea what Iām doing. Iāve just heard some interviews where the advocate never asks WHY the person is hesitant or scared of the vaccine and just throws lots of science facts and it doesnāt work).
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Makes sense. Emotion canāt be countered with logic. People are wired wrong if you ask me. ( no one did, so Iāll just see myself out.)
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Ohhhhh thatās very smart. I did just that. Thank you @darlingpants.
Update
Me: And of course Iām happy to have a conversation about evolving covid findings and all the different concerns & factors! Itās such an emerging topic. Whatās been on your mind?
Me: For our part, after reading a bunch we both decided to get the vaccine. We went with the mRNA type (Moderna/Pfizer) since we were able to find more thorough research on it and I found a good video explanation of mRNA that helped put my mind at ease.
Her: Okay, so you went ahead with the mRNA vaccine. We will leave it at that. I have found cause for concern. I bless you in the direction you took for everything best for you both xo!
You guys are very dear and I appreciate you.
Reflection: Maybe we would have had more of a conversation if I had sent just the first text, not the second. Her reply makes it clear that she was leaning more towards no than neutral. Fwiw she wears masks, limits outings, etc. so I do think she makes an effort to do her part for public health. But also: for my personal sanity this week I think I have to leave it at that.
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Great news that Moderna continues to be effective through 6 months like Pfizer!
These updates have made me wonderā¦are they going to have enough of a placebo group left to continue to do these updates? I read that once it was clear the vaccine was beneficial, people were allowed to unblind themselves and get vaccinated if they were originally in the placebo group.
Itās hard because the data scientist in me wants to keep the placebo group for years so we can see how long this thing really works, but obviously the ethicist in me wants everyone to be offered the vaccine immediately.
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Thatās a super good question. You would assume people willing to participate in a vaccine trial are not going to be vaccine hesitant, so theyāll elect to get the vaccine if they can. I donāt know, maybe weāll have to switch to vaccine hesitant or vaccine refusing people as our control group? And obviously that introduces a lot of potential confounding factors into the sample, since thatās then self-selection. Thatās a really good point. I donāt know how weāll proceed from here, except for now to switching to the test groups being in countries where access is the issue and not choice?
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I am SUPER squicked out by the thought of an indoor concert I have tickets for thatās been rescheduled to October. A packed indoor theater? Really? Urrrghhhh.
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Iād worry about this in late August, but not now.
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Yeah, who knows what things will look like later this year. There was just an influx of Facebook posts from friends about WOOHOO I canāt wait for this concert and Iām like EW people breathing indoors!
Plus the fact that the band is from overseas. UK, I think? Australian natives though, I think. I actually do not know where they currently live. So this assumes a lot about the safety of international travel, and how other countries are doing, and and and.
I have a thought that Iām not quite sure how to say, so bear with me here. How do we get over our fear of being physically around other people? Itāll be really nice when we can go out for a neighborhood walk and I donāt have to have a running level of awareness in my brain about how close my family members are standing to the neighbors we run into and wondering if theyāre anti-vaxxers. To say nothing of lost faith in institutions.
Rambling
Over the past year-plus weāve had it emphasized over and over to socially distance, to basically not see people in person if at all possible to minimize exposures, to put on hand sanitizer after any possible interaction with Jane Doe or John Smith in public when you do have to go out, etc. Weāve seen repeated stories about people who donāt care and are partying it up. Multiple things Iāve seen locally have only reinforced that while many people are making the right choices, many others are not including those in position of authority (looking at you state education commissioner who said to make masks optional next year).
I mentioned to my therapist that going shopping a few weeks back made me anxious and after the session he sent me a thing on agoraphobia. At first that seems like a miss but looking at the Mayo Clinic: āAgoraphobia (ag-uh-ruh-FOE-be-uh) is a type of anxiety disorder in which you fear and avoid places or situations that might cause you to panic and make you feel trapped, helpless or embarrassed. You fear an actual or anticipated situation, such as using public transportation, being in open or enclosed spaces, standing in line, or being in a crowd. ā¦ People with agoraphobia often have a hard time feeling safe in any public place, especially where crowds gather. You may feel that you need a companion, such as a relative or friend, to go with you to public places. The fear can be so overwhelming that you may feel unable to leave your home.ā Itās not quite right, because if I could go out to any store at midnight when no one else is there Iād be thrilled. (I would also have been thrilled with this pre-pandemic. At one point we shifted our work schedules from 8-5 to 7-4 and the difference in traffic is a thing of beauty.)
The first time my mom came to visit, I was stressed out the whole time because it was The First Visit. The first person who was not there to repair something, the first person to stay more than thirty minutes. Then she and her husband came up after they were vaccinated but we didnāt know (no one knew) if they could still transmit asymptomatically so we still had them wear masks, but then we had dinner indoors sitting close together and what if we made the wrong choice and of course my five year old with health issues wants to sit next to grandma and theyāre breathing the same air???
Obviously things are changing a lot month by month. One month ago I still had no idea when I might be able to get a shot but hoped it would be soon, two months ago I had no expectation of getting a vaccine before maybe summer time-ish. Who knows what things will look like two months from now, or four months from now when the next school year is starting.
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