So, Mrs. Commonwealth is going for round two with covid now. We find out in a few days whether I dodged it or not. She had a friend’s bachelorette party in Nashville, and a few days off after so I flew out to join her and check out the town.
She was exhausted and had no voice when I met her after brunch Sunday, but that was to be expected. We spent an hour indoors, then went to lunch (dined out), walked around outside, and went back for a nap (maybe 2 hours indoors) before going to dinner (dined out but moved inside for the last hour because it was pretty hot).
She started coughing at dinner, so we Ubered to the hotel, luckily I had gotten a free suite upgrade so we isolated and she tested positive. Returned home early, N95s the whole way, N95s and windows down in the car. Isolating at home with all the windows open.
So far she’s coughing a little and tired but otherwise ok. Hopefully it stays that way, she’s on Paxlovid and Metformin.
Very shitty 24 hours, hopefully it doesn’t get any worse for either of us. I’m not optimistic for my chances, very similar to how it played out last time. Hopefully this case is milder, last time I almost ended up hospitalized and had some brain fog after for a little while.
I mean, we were both boosted every 6 months and most recently in mid May, so her viral load should be low. But her stripe was strong on the test, so not a great sign. But really it’s just such a similar scenario to last time that it’s major deja vu, although she tested much earlier this time so the exposure was way less.
I don’t know about “always,” but I think that’s the plan for the foreseeable future. At least that’s the case this year.
I don’t know if it’s important to distinguish between Pfizer and Moderna at this point. Those are both mRNA vaccines, and Novavax is the “old-fashioned” kind, like Dan said.
Here’s a blurb from a Yale article. (It’s hard to find an FDA or CDC page that presents the information in one place, unfortunately.)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older get one of the updated vaccines. Pfizer’s and Moderna’s updated mRNA vaccines were fully approved in the middle of August for everyone ages 12 and older, and each has a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorization (EUA) for infants and children ages 6 months through 11 years. The mRNA vaccines target a SARS-CoV-2 strain called KP.2.
The FDA authorized an updated COVID vaccine from Novavax later the same month for everyone 12 and older. That shot targets another strain—JN.1.
The new vaccines come at a time when a collection of closely related SARS-CoV-2 strains are circulating in the United States. All of them are descendants of the Omicron strain. JN.1 was the dominant strain in May but was surpassed in June by a collection of other Omicron virus strains, including KP.2. (By late August, KP.2 and JN.1 only accounted for a minimal number of cases, but all three of the new vaccines are expected to protect against new related variants.)
My strategy is Moderna in the fall because it’ll be a more recently updated strain due to mRNA technology, and Novovax in the spring for mix and match benefits.
I assume once the new stuff is approved, I assume nobody will be stocking the old ones. Exception might be the initial two shots for a totally unvaxxed, not sure what they’re doing with those now.
48 hours from exposure, still negative. One other pozz from the bachelorette party today. She had symptoms and tested. Not sure how many are testing regardless of symptoms or even if they have symptoms.
My wife got it in June of 22 while we were at Disney. Despite being massively exposed, neither of my daughters nor I got it from her. Despite what a former British Prime Minister would have you believe, I do think the vaccines have, and always have, offered pretty good protection against infection and/or symptomatic Covid-19 disease.
Moved today’s test up a bit to make sure before I return to the casino, still negative! Now 4.66 days from exposure, so I think it’s reasonable to go back to the poker room without being a danger to others.
Wife still doing great. Apparently hospitals here do a better job of controlling covid spread than the Pennsylvania ones. Back there it was “You’re positive? We don’t care, come to work if you don’t have a fever over 101. Wear a mask please (but little/no enforcement other than personal decency).”
Here it’s a mandatory five days, then mandatory mask until you test negative. She masks in there anyway so no worries there.
This is a lot of things in California. So far I’d say 90% of the time I like the regulation I run into, 10% of the time I’m annoyed. But I try to remind myself of the 90% in those moments.
Also in this case it’s good for patients. Imagine being immunocompromised and having a COVID positive nurse/doc/whoever maskless. Literally could kill patients.
Based on the high rate of global immunity and currently available data, the State Surgeon General advises against the use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Any provider concerned about the health risks associated with COVID-19 for patients over the age of 65 or with underlying health conditions should prioritize patient access to non-mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and treatment.
I’m getting my flu vax on Monday but I’m waiting until November for the covid shot. I’m hoping for full protection around Christmas and for a trip to Japan in February.
, but obviously good overall.
